Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Cover Girl Bar Refaeli

This years honors for the Sports Illustrated cover girl swimsuit edition, one of the most coveted covers in the modeling world, goes to smokin hot Israeli model Bar Refaeli, aka Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend.

Refaeli, 23, chatted it up with People Magazine on Monday about the cover, before sharing the exciting news with her friends, family and even Leonardo.

Here’s some highlights from the interview:

Congratulations!
Thank you, thank you! I am so happy, I am ecstatic! I’m in heaven right now.

When did you find out?
About 20 minutes ago.

Have you shared the news with anyone yet?
No! They’re not letting me tell anyone until tonight. Tonight I’m going to call 30 people – all my friends in Israel, all my friends in L.A., my grandma and my grandpa.

What will your grandparents say about your sexy photo spread?
They are so proud! My grandma says she walks down the street and people ask her, ‘Are you Bar Refaeli’s grandmother?’ I’m like, dude – I mean, you’re very beautiful, but we don’t really look alike! We have 60 years between us. She’s so proud. She keeps every single article on me.

Was getting this cover a goal of yours?
It was my dream. When I was 15 and started modeling, my agent came to my house with Sports Illustrated magazines and taught me to look at the girls and the way they communicated with the camera. I learned from them.

Which other swimsuit edition covers have you most admired?
They’ve all been well-deserved, but definitely Tyra Banks’s, and Heidi Klum’s.

What do you admire about Heidi?
The values she has. You can see she’s totally into her family, so into motherhood, and she doesn’t take herself too seriously. That’s inspiring. That would be something I’d love – to be able to have a family alongside an incredible career. I wish I could have that someday.

Do you think Leo will like the cover?
I don’t know. I really, really love it. I’m sure people will, too.