Lifestyle Health Denise Bidot Speaks Out About Her Stretch Marks in 'SI' Swim Ad: 'I Am Unapologetic About My Body' Model Denise Bidot proudly displayed her stretch marks in an unretouched ad for Lane Bryant in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue By Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta Twitter Julie Mazziotta is the Sports Editor at PEOPLE, covering everything from the NFL to tennis to Simone Biles and Tom Brady. She was previously an Associate Editor for the Health vertical for six years, and prior to joining PEOPLE worked at Health Magazine. When not covering professional athletes, Julie spends her time as a (very) amateur athlete, training for marathons, long bike trips and hikes. People Editorial Guidelines Published on February 17, 2017 05:48 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Lane Bryant In Sports Illustrated's most body-diverse Swimsuit issue ever, it only makes sense that an ad for Lane Bryant features an unretouched shot of model Denise Bidot — stretch marks and all. "I was so excited to find out the image was released unretouched," Bidot tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I am pretty unapologetic about my body." Bidot, 30, posed in a bikini from Lane Bryant's Cacique line for their #ThisBody campaign. "I was allowed freedom within this campaign to be myself, and to show the world that they can be imperfectly perfect too," she says. SI's groundbreaking diversity-themed issue featured models of all sizes, including curvy models Hunter McGrady, Ashley Graham and more. "Finally, women can pick up a Sports Illustrated and see a diverse range of women," says Bidot. "But still, so many times those images are 'perfected.' So to be in the pages completely unretouched makes me proud of how far we have come." "I hope not only women, but everyone, will realize it's okay to be yourself and love your body just the way it is," she says. "We are perfect just the way we are." RELATED VIDEO: Hunter McGrady in the 2017 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Bidot expressed pride in her role in the self-acceptance movement on Instagram last week. "It's amazing to be a part of the change that's helping women see once and for all that nobody is perfect," she wrote. We can still be beautiful in spite of our imperfections. It's time we celebrate each other and learn to love the skin we are in."