Kate Upton fell off a giant rock during the “Sports Illustrated” Swimsuit shoot, and it looked painful

Kate Upton knew things were going to end badly when she climbed up on a giant rock for a photo. The model was taking pics for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue when she suffered a not-so-minor fall in the waters of Aruba. Photographer Yu Tsai was going for Little Mermaid but got drenched model instead.

“I saw the next wave coming and it didn’t look that large from my point of view. But it must have hit the rock just right,” Upton said in a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot. “And the skirt, whenever it’s wet, with all the tulle is very heavy and it dragged me down.”

The weight of the wet skirt also made it difficult for Upton to get up out of the water, which caused a mild panic amongst the crew. Luckily, by the time Upton was back on her feet, everyone was smiling and laughing (including the model herself).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfLbl5KHXtk

"I felt like I was laughing in the face of death," Upton said.

Thankfully for us, Upton is a champ and obviously doesn’t mind sharing her mishap with the world via the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit YouTube channel. You can see the video of Upton falling below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n97oQrZ6_xY?start=1&feature=oembed

"Looking back, that probably should have been a moment when we photoshopped me on there. But we didn't because we never do that!" Upton joked.

Ah, the sacrifices we make for our art…

We’re glad Upton is okay post-fall. Hopefully Tsai got a good shot of her before she went down. You can see Kate Upton not falling in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.