Martha Stewart Responds to Plastic Surgery Accusations Following Swimsuit Cover

Martha Stewart is shooting down speculation that she’s undergone plastic surgery following her appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. After making history at 81 years old as the oldest woman to model for the issue’s cover, the businesswoman told Variety she’s had largely “very good” feedback on social media, except for “a few naysayers.”

“They’re very good,” Stewart told the outlet. “There are only a few naysayers saying, ‘The pictures are over-retouched.’ But they’re not. They are incredibly accurate pictures. I was really pleased that there was not much airbrushing.” Stewart also shut down speculation that she’s gone under the knife, calling the rumors “not true.”

“I’ve had absolutely no plastic surgery whatsoever,” she insisted. “I have very healthy, good hair. I drink green juice every day. I take my vitamins. I eat very healthfully. I have very good skin doctors. I’m very careful in the sun. I wear hats and I wear sunblock every single day.” Stewart added, “Every now and then there are certain fillers that I can do for a little line here or there, but I hate Botox. It’s a weird thing for me. I really and truly don’t do a lot.”

To prepare for her cover, the Martha Stewart Living star told the outlet that she upped her Pilates practice to three times a week, watched what she ate and stopped drinking alcohol. Doing the cover shoot, Stewart hopes she inspired other women her age to step outside of the societal box. “It certainly has aroused an interest in many, many different places. I just got an email from Gayle King. She wrote, ‘Congratulations, this is really great. You look stunning, and blah, blah, blah.’ I wrote back to her, ‘Next year is your year.’ She wrote back, ‘I would have never even considered that it would happen, but now?’ That’s what’s happening. People are now reimagining their future,” she revealed. “And that’s what it’s all about. You can call upon the past but reimagining the future for yourself, for your family, for anybody is a very good thing right now, because of the chaos this word is in.”

Stewart expressed similar feelings in a behind-the-scenes video from her photoshoot. “Usually I’m motivated by pay,” she said candidly. “But this time, I was motivated by showing people that a woman my age can still look good, feel good, be good.” She added, “I want other women, especially women to feel that they could also be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I don’t think about age very much, but I thought that this is kind of historic.”