Chrissy Teigen has been a professional model for about seven years, which is a lifetime in that particular world, so there was no doubt she was thrilled to learn that she scored the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

The 28 year old beauty will be featured on the cover along with models Lily Aldrige and Nina Agdal, and all three women appear topless in thong bikini bottoms, which will surely grab the attention of men all around the world.

This morning Teigen’s husband, singer John Legend, said his wife couldn’t be happier about being on the cover and said she was truly shocked. “She cried like a baby. She was so excited,” he said. “And it was a surprise because you never really know who’s going to be on the cover. She’s been in the issue for several years now and every year it’s been someone else. And then this year, it was her.”

Besides Teigen’s beautiful looks, it’s likely that her current level of popularity has secured the cover for her, because she’s been in the press a lot lately for getting married, posting a bunch of controversial tweets and Instagram photos, and being on television more in the past year than she’s been in her whole career.

So proud of my beautiful wife @chrissyteigen!!! 50th Anniversary SI Cover Girl!!! http://t.co/fDlmDvGMBT pic.twitter.com/sBX1WJobgN

— John Legend (@johnlegend) February 14, 2014

And ironically, Teigen said that she never felt pretty enough to be a model while growing up in Huntington Beach, Calif., and she felt really intimidated by all the beautiful girls there.

“I couldn’t believe how hot the girls all were,” she said, in an interview with Vegas magazine. “Modeling had never crossed my mind. For someone as insecure as I was, it didn’t seem possible.”

As far as her marriage to Legend, the two seem to be incredibly happy since they tied the knot in Italy last year. In fact, Legend told CBS This Morning that he knew for a long time that he wanted to be with Teigen for the rest of his life.

“I’m excited,” he said. “It’s been great so far. I’ve been with Chrissy for a long time, and knew that I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life and wanted to have kids with her and all of that, and I really didn’t have any fear. Once I decided to do it, I decided lets go for it.”

Image via Twitter