It's official! Hannah Davis scores the cover of the 2015 SI Swimsuit Issue

Author:
Rebecca Shore
Publish date:
Feb 4, 2015

All cover speculation can grind to a halt: the SI Swimsuit 2015 cover, starring one Hannah Davis, is here!

Hannah Davis on the cover of the 2015 SI Swimsuit Issue (click for full size)
Ben Watts/SI

The cover shot, taken by Ben Watts at Tennessee's idyllic Blackberry Farm, marks Hannah's third (and, we tend to think, best) appearance in the issue and was revealed Wednesday night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

"I didn't think it could get better than Hannah's Jersey Shore shoot last year," says SI Assistant Managing Editor MJ Day, "but this year everything clicked. It was perfection."

Believe it, though, when we say that noone was more surprised by the results than the 24-year-old model herself, who learned of the news Tuesday afternoon through a prank made possible by SI Now (video above).

VIDEO: Hannah on Fallon

"I gave her a hug and the only words she could get out were, 'Are you sure? Is it definitely printed already?'" says MJ.

"I told my mom there was no way I'd get the cover," a stunned Hannah admitted (after calling her mother and taking it all back). "I told her 'They do beaches for covers and I'm on a farm. There's no way. It's not possible.'"

GALLERY: Hannah gets the news of a lifetime (FULL SIZE)

Maggie Gray and Hannah Davis

Hannah Davis

Hannah Davis

Team SI Swimsuit

Hannah and her agent Josh Otten

MJ Day and Hannah Davis

Hannah Davis and Team Swimsuit

Hannah Davis

MJ Day and Hannah Davis

But MJ set Hannah straight with a glimpse into the hush-hush decision-making process: "There's no person, there's no place. The best photo wins. Period."

This magic moment (click for full size)
Hillary Drezner/SI

For her part, Hannah not only harbored zero expectations for the cover, but says she would have been perfectly happy either way.

"I've always enjoyed the whole Swimsuit experience, and said that anything extra—a little square on the cover or anything like that—was a bonus. But still, this was my dream."

It's a dream we are more than happy to help make come true. Congratulations, Hannah Davis, SI Swimsuit cover model!

The 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue hits newsstands this Monday, Feb. 9, with the new website launching 11 a.m. ET. Launch Week festivities continue all next week in New York City and Nashville with our first-ever SI Swimsuit Fan Festival; go here to see a schedule of the events.

GALLERY: SI'S SWIMSUIT COVERS OVER THE YEARS