Bret Michaels’ daughter Raine Michaels is all grown up! And she’s one step closer to achieving her dream of becoming a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue model.
The magazine announced on Tuesday, January 29, that they’d narrowed their 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search competition to six finalists — and Raine is one of them! The famed bathing suit cover has launched numerous careers and featured the likes of supermodels including Elle Macpherson, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum and Chrissy Teigen over the years.
The 18-year-old model, who is represented by One Management NYC, gleefully announced the news on her Instagram the same day. “Feeling so many emotions right now… as I announce that I am moving onto the Top 6 of the #siswimsearch and will officially be apart of the 2019 @si_swimsuit issue that comes out this May!!” she captioned a modeling shot of her in a black bikini. “So beyond grateful to everyone that has believed in me since the beginning of this journey and to everyone who is just joining me I love you all too!!”
She added that the honor was a childhood wish: “It has been my dream to be a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model since I was 13 years old and it is now coming true..xoxo ❤️,” she wrote.
Her famous father, born Bret Michael Sychak, also expressed his joy on Instagram the next day. “So incredibly proud of @rainee_m! She works hard while being the kind & humble soul she’s always been,” the rocker wrote on a modeling picture of Raine in a cowboy hat. “I know she’s beyond excited to work with @si_swimsuit and is grateful to be a top 6 finalist! Congratulations to her and all the other finalists who worked so hard to get to this point!”
Raine appeared as a child in the short-lived 2010 reality show Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It. Her younger sister, Jorga Bleu, was also featured on the show along with their mom and Michaels’ on-off love, Kristi Gibson. The ’80s rocker famously reclaimed the spotlight when his dating reality show, Rock of Love With Bret Michaels, premiered on VH1 in 2007. He won Celebrity Apprentice in 2010 despite suffering multiple serious health scares, including a brain hemorrhage, while filming.
In an introduction of Raine to their readers, Sports Illustrated described her as a student scholar — and made reference to the Poison frontman. “This blonde beauty is so much more than the daughter of a rockstar. Since graduating high school last summer, Raine has started classes at Belmont University, where she balances a busy schedule of music classes and modeling.”
