Teyana Taylor is now the first Black woman to be named the “Sexiest Woman Alive” by Maxim Magazine.
On Monday (June 7), the “Gonna Love Me” singer took to Instagram to celebrate the achievement. “Somebody pinch me!!!! Maxim Hot 100 to be named the ‘Sexiest Woman Alive’ by literally living in the skin I’m in,” she captioned a post of images from her magazine shoot. “WOW…Stepping back in front of the lens has been a journey of self-reflection and self-confidence. Living up to [the] name and title of this shoot wholeheartedly made me nervous.”
After dropping her daughter off at school and arriving at the photoshoot in sweatpants and a beanie, Taylor said that she was surprised when the photographer told her not to get glammed up.
“I was like, ‘SO LET ME UNDERSTAND THIS…I WILL BE THE SEXIEST Woman Alive IN SWEATS AND A SKULLY?’” she recalled. “As confused as I was, my heart also melted…Embrace and love yourselves for who & what you are because only the purest heart shines through. Thank you @maximmag. I am truly honored to have graced the cover.”
Aside from her historic cover, Taylor and her husband Iman Shumpert are set to return to reality television. Last month, REVOLT reported that the couple and their daughters will star in a series titled “We Got Love Iman & Teyana” on the E! Network. The show will document their day-to-day lives, much like their former VH1 series “Teyana & Iman.”
Shumpert is now focusing on his music career after he was waived by the Brooklyn Nets earlier this year. Taylor, however, announced last year that she was retiring from music after feeling “super underappreciated” as an artist. “I’m retiring this chapter of my story with the comfort that I can depart with peace of mind seeing that all the hard work & passion put was indeed loved & supported somewhere in the world!” the Coming 2 America actress wrote. “To all my supporters from day 1 & all my new ones I love you and I thank you for everything.”
Check out Taylor’s Maxim cover below.