Brianna LaPaglia’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover is full-circle.
Last year, Sports Illustrated asked the podcast host, 25, to host the red carpet at the 60th anniversary celebration of the magazine, but she ended up not taking the job.
According to her new cover story, it’s because her boyfriend at the time, Zach Bryan, told her to turn it down.
LaPaglia told SI Swim that the country music singer, who she dated for a year, told her it was too “trashy” for her brand, so she dropped out last-minute even though she really wanted to work with them.
Fast-forward to now while she’s in her single-girl era and she’s a cover girl.
“It’s a lot more than me looking quote-unquote hot in a swimsuit—it’s me reclaiming who I am as a woman, reclaiming my body and my decisions and my choices,” LaPaglia told the outlet following her very public breakup with Bryan. “This cover is me being me again and taking control of my life. This is my body; my body isn’t that experience, and even though I’m not 100% in it right now, this is me. This doesn’t have anything to do with anybody else.”
LaPaglia had to admit, though, that despite wanting to do this for herself, she did find some joy in sending a message to Bryan.
“It is just, on a petty level, my favorite f— you,” she said. “This is me, and I wanted to do this, and now I’m on the digital cover.”
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LaPaglia — who made a name for herself as Brianna Chickenfry online — was photographed by Katherine Goguen in La Quinta, Calif., late last year. She wears a number of teeny-tiny swimsuits in her debut for the outlet, posing all over the beach with her tattoos on display and her hair in soft waves.
She told Sports Illustrated Swimsuit that in 2025, she’s looking forward to focusing more on podcasts and less on TikTok and influencer life, especially with the looming ban. She’s ready to see TikTok go, anyway. “How I’m feeling right now is I’m like, Pop a bottle of champagne! Let’s get rid of this horrible, hateful, app,” she joked.
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LaPaglia and Bryan first met in May 2023 and started dating soon after. They broke up in fall 2024, which Bryan confirmed on his Instagram Stories. In a November episode of BFFs Podcast, LaPaglia opened up about how difficult the relationship was for her, saying, “The last year of my life has been the hardest year of my life dealing with the abuse from this dude.”
She also alleged that Bryan asked her to sign an NDA, offering her $12 million and a New York apartment to “not talk about the relationship.” She said she refused.
In the weeks that have followed, LaPaglia has been open about traumatic relationships, sharing her story with everyone while Bryan has largely remained quiet. Though she told Sports Illustrated Swimsuit that it has weighed on her to be so open with people, it has also been healing.
“During the hardest time of my life, it’s probably been one of the most rewarding things that has ever happened to me, to be able to help people in a way that I feel is a lot more meaningful than what my old content was,” she shared. “I know posting silly stuff and having fun videos for people to watch is also helpful, and it helps people get out of the reality, but to actually change lives with coming forward and being able to give people a shoulder to lean on, or a person to cry to, it’s just out of this world.”
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