Upton's Sports Illustrated Cover
Kate Upton on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue Tumblr

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Kate Upton said she suffered from frostbite after shooting her second Sports Illustrated cover in Antarctica.
The photographs, which surfaced just last week after the cover was featured in an exclusive TMZ report, show the supermodel in a thin white bikini on the shores of the South Pole.

In describing the sub-49 degree temperatures, Upton said on the NBC "Today" show, "When I came back, I was like losing hearing and eyesight because my body was shutting down, it was working so hard to keep me warm."

"It was freezing. I'm from Florida so, it wasn't great for me,” she added.

She said that when she told her mother about her unpleasant symptoms, she replied unsympathetically: "I told you not to go there."

Upton’s appearance on the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover marks the second time the supermodel has graced the cover.

“Sports Illustrated really launched my career and I have a lot to thank them for,” she said.

While Upton can be seen on the 2013 cover wearing a open white fur parka, and an itty-bitty white bikini bottom, this edition of the magazine’s swimsuit issue covers the entire world, with 17 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models journeying to all seven continents. Photo backdrops include African dunes and Asian cliffs.

Kate Upton
Kate Upton Sports Illustrated

“I was very surprised by the news that that was where my shoot was going to be located," she explained.

TMZ posted exclusive photos of the Sports Illustrated model posing in the frigid surroundings in December, but it was unclear at the time what the shoot was specifically for.

In the photographs, Upton is seen weathering the cold in just a small white bikini top and bottom, with her feet protected in thermal moon boots.

In the "Today" show interview, she added that Sport Illustrated has "promised somewhere warm" for her next cover shoot.

Florida