Danielle Herrington: Surprise Choice On Cover Of 2018 ‘Sports Illustrated’ Swimsuit Edition Makes Fans Swoon

Danielle Herrington will soon be everywhere.

The surprise choice to feature on the 2018 edition of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue is already creating a lot of buzz on the internet. Herrington becomes only the third African-American woman to ever feature on the cover of SI’s swimsuit issue, following in the footsteps of such stalwarts as Tyra Banks and Beyonce, who appeared on the cover in 1997 and 2007, respectively.

What is even more pleasant — both for Danielle and the magazine’s fans — is the fact that the Compton native’s modeling career has been short but illustrious already. She only started out in 2015 and landed her first big project last year when she was chosen to be one of the rookie models in the magazine’s 2017 swimsuit edition.

Being on the cover hasn’t surprised anyone more than Danielle Herrington herself, who told Entertainment Tonight what a huge honor it is to be featured. Inspired by Tyra in her formative years, Herrington now believes the beginning of her career will inspire future models.

“That makes my heart drop because Tyra, Beyonce, they are superstars. They are what you want to be. They are my idols and they mean so much to me because they have the best work ethic and I feel like…sorry, I’m emotional. But that’s a part of where I get my drive from.

“They set a really good example for my generation and I really want to set a good example like they did for the next generation.”

The way the news was broken to Herrington left her in tears — in a good way. She wasn’t informed about having been chosen to feature on the cover and was called by the magazine for a supposed VR shoot. When she arrived, Danielle ran into her idol, Tyra Banks, who was pretending to shoot for a “secret project.” Herrington didn’t want to intrude too much but nevertheless could not contain her curiosity, being, as she was, in the company of her heroine. Banks told Danielle she would tell her about the project only if Herrington decided not to speak about it to anyone, which the 24-year-old readily agreed too.

Then Banks brought on a large portrait, and the rest is simply beautiful.

Dreams do come true! Watch the emotional moment Danielle Herrington finds out she's our #SISwim 2018 cover model. https://t.co/v7s0Jf70yc pic.twitter.com/WHWO96scfK

— Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 13, 2018

The internet’s curiosity and interest in Danielle Herrington has peaked exponentially since she was revealed to be Sports Illustrated’s cover model. Within just a day of the official announcement being made, Herrington was searched more than a 200,000 times on Google, and remains trending on Twitter. Fans have applauded the magazine for taking what has been hailed as a bold decision, with Herrington becoming only the third black woman to feature on the cover in SI’s 54-year-old history. When one takes into account the fact that Danielle has been able to do so with such little experience, her achievement shines all the more brighter.

You can check out Danielle Herrington’s SI cover by clicking here.