The former Miss Universe opens up on her relationship with her NFL star boyfriend and her work in the upcoming 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' issue.
Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola might not have won a Super Bowl ring this year, but the 32-year-old NFL pro is a big winner in the eyes of his girlfriend, model Oliva Culpo.
The former Miss Universe has been endlessly supportive of her beau on social media, taking to Instagram before and after the big game to show her love.
ET caught up with the 25-year-old beauty queen at the amfAR gala at Cipriani Wall Street in NYC on Wednesday, where she opened up about watching Amendola and his teammates take on the Philadelphia Eagles at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota last Sunday.
"It was so fun. It's just so fun to be there and see everybody's hard work pay off and to be supportive. I love the sport," Culpo told ET.
For Culpo, being a part of a healthy relationship is all about support and collaboration. "I think you have to work as a team. I think it's really important," she explained.
Before the big game kicked off, Culpo shared a number of snapshots to Instagram expressing her support.
The Patriots ended up losing to the Eagles 33-41, but for Culpo, all that mattered was that Amendola was happy, healthy and that they were together.
"Feeling blessed after a safe season and incredible #SuperBowl game!!!! Just to be there again was the best feeling ever. GO DANNY," Culpo captioned a sweet shot of her kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.
While the cute couple are the very definition of relationship goals, Culpo's involvement with this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is going to keep them from spending Valentine's Day together.
"I'm doing my Sports Illustrated media week during Valentine's Day, so I'm going to be working which is a huge bummer," she explained. "But I'm hoping to go away before Valentine's Day to kind of make up for it."
Culpo is one of the newest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue Rookies, and she says being among the new slate of talented models is truly exciting.
"I'm really honored to be amongst such great company," she reflected. "A lot of the women in that category do so much more than just model. They're business women, and I've admire them for a long time, so it's great."
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is also featuring a brand new section called "In Her Own Words," featuring models posing nude with words they've chosen painted on their figures. The section, which was an entirely female photo shoot, from crew to editors, is committed to empowering women through self-expression, voice and identity.
"I think it's really exciting. I hope that these pictures can speak more than past photos have for Sports Illustrated," she shared. "They literally have a message, and it'll start a conversation because of that."
As for the coveted spot on the cover of the issue -- determined by a vote for Rookie of the Year -- Sports Illustrated is announcing the winning model next week, and Culpo said she's looking forward to finding out who gets the honor.
"[It] would be amazing!" Culpo said, adding, "I love the girls that I"m working with, so we'll see! I'll be happy for whoever wins. I really will."
In the meantime, Culpo said she was just excited to lend her support to the annual amfAR gala, supporitng the Foundation for AIDS Research, and help raise the organization's profile.
"HIV has been a huge cause of mine every since I won Miss Universe. I've done so much work around the world with it and amfAR raises so much money," she shared. "There's still so much to be done and so much progress to be made with HIV and AIDS, so I'm hoping we can raise a lot of money."
Sailor Brinkley Cook -- daughter of supermodel icon Christie Brinkley -- is among the other members of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue Rookie Class, and posed nude for the "In Her Own Words" photoshoot.
The 19-year-old model spoke with ET on Wednesday, and revealed that she didn't tell her mom about the revealing shoot until she'd already done it. Check out the video below to hear why.
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