Irina Shayk

Irina Shayk (born January 6, 1986), sometimes credited as Irina Sheik, born Irina Valeryevna Shaykhlislamova, is a Russian model known for her 2007 through 2014 appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was the cover model for the 2011 issue. Early years Shayk was born in Yemanzhelinsk, Russia, to Volga Tatar coal miner Valery and ethnic Russian kindergarten music teacher Olga. She says she inherited her looks from her father and she has said that people often think she is South American. "My father was dark skinned, because he was Tatar, sometimes Tatars can look Brazilian," she says. "I get my light eyes from my mother." She has one sibling, a sister named Tatiana. Shayk started playing piano at age six. At age nine she enrolled in a music school and studied there for seven years, both playing the piano and singing in the choir, since her mother wanted her to study music. Her father died of complications of pneumonia when she was 14, leaving her family with little money and forcing her mother to work two jobs to provide for the family. After high school, Shayk studied marketing but was bored by it and entered a beauty school with her older sister. While there, she was noticed by a person from a local modeling agency who was struck by her beauty. She was urged to participate in the "Miss Chelyabinsk 2004" beauty contest and she won. Career In 2007, she replaced Ana Beatriz Barros as the face of Intimissimi, and in the same year debuted in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Since that time, she has appeared in every annual edition, attending photoshoots in such places as St. Petersburg, Naples, Grenada and Chile. After being the image of Intimissimi for three years, Shayk was made the official ambassador for the brand in 2010. Her other modeling contracts include Beach Bunny (2009), and Guess spring/summer 2009. Other work include the Victoria's Secret catalog, Lacoste, Cesare Paciotti and Morellato. Her magazine covers include Annabelle, Bolero, Woman, Twelv, Jalouse, and Paris Capital. She signed with modeling agency IMG on May 2009. Shayk modeled the Armani Exchange spring/summer 2010 campaign. She also starred in Kanye West's "Power", directed by artist Marco Brambilla. She was on the cover of Ocean Drive and GQ South Africa for the August issue. She ranked first in the "50 Hottest Russian Women" list by Complex magazine. She made a change from swimwear to high fashion with a spread in Spain's Harper's Bazaar and landed the cover of Elle Spain for their November 2010 issue. Glamour Spain awarded her "Best International Model of 2010".(Spanish:Mejor Modelo Internacional). At the end of the year she was pictured nude in the GQ Spain December issue; however, she claimed that she had not stripped for the photoshoot, and that the magazine had digitally altered the images to remove her lingerie. On the February 14, 2011 episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, it was revealed via billboard that Shayk was the cover model for the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. This is the fifth time she has been featured in the magazine, but the first time she has been on the cover. She is the first Russian to appear on the cover. Acting Shayk makes her acting debut as the wife of Hercules in the 2014 film Hercules alongside with Dwayne Johnson. Personal life Shayk has a pet dog named Caesare, after Julius Caesar, a Labrador which she claims was fathered by one of the dogs who played the title role in the film Marley & Me. Since May 2010, she has been dating footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Shayk and Ronaldo allegedly met through their Armani Exchange campaigns.