This week, Sports Illustrated announced its Rookies of the Year and curves are still front and center.

Australian plus size model Kate Wasley, along with her best friend and fellow model Georgia Gibbs, are officially Rookies of the Year 2018, having shot together recently in Aruba for the Sports Illustrated 2018 Swimsuit Issue.

Wasley and Gibbs went viral earlier this year when Gibbs posted an image on Instagram of herself and Wasley, only to be accused of body shaming Wasley by photoshopping herself thinner or making Wasley larger. Gibbs is a US size 2 and Wasley is a US size 12.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPjPLx1jXQg/?taken-by=georgiagibbs_

The two went on to create the Any Body project, to push the message of self love, societal acceptance and learning to quit the comparisons and love, any BODY.

“We started the project because we realised people saw us differently to how we saw ourselves, we would sing to Beyonce from Kate’s Hyundai, go to the beach, work out together and brunch (our favourite meal of the day) most Sundays as friends do, it wasn’t until we posted a picture of us next to each other and people began comparing, criticising, tearing us both to pieces, calling Kate overweight and me anorexic… We never saw this in each other so why does anyone else? We realised people aren’t used to seeing a size 8 and a 16 next to each other, which blew our minds, we are healthy, confident and natural so what’s the big deal?”

When asked how they feel about being SI Rookies, Wasley said:

“We are beyond excited to be apart of the SI family. To be a part of something so iconic that is so inclusive of race, size and shape is truly a dream come true!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaZT9QZlLBE/?taken-by=si_swimsuit

You can read more about all the models chosen to be 2018 Rookies of the Year here.

You can find out more about the Any Body project here.