Irina Valeryevna Shaykhlislamova (Russian: Ирина Валерьевна Шайхлисламова; born 6 January 1986), also known as Irina Shayk (), is a Russian fashion model and actress. She received international recognition when she appeared as the first Russian model on the cover of the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 2022, the website Models.com placed her on their list of the New Supers.
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Early life
Shayk was born in Yemanzhelinsk (Chelyabinsk Oblast region), Soviet Union, to a Russian father of Volga Tatar origin, Valery Shaykhlislamov, a coal miner, and ethnic Russian mother, Olga, a kindergarten music teacher. She has stated that she inherited her looks from her father and that people often mistake her for being South American, saying, "My father had tanned skin because he was half Tatar, sometimes Tatars can look Brazilian. I get my light eyes from my mother." She has one sibling, a sister named Tatiana Petenkova. She is also an aunt to Tatiana's three children including a niece named "Irina" after her.
Shayk started playing piano at age six. At age nine, she enrolled in a music school and studied there for seven years, both playing the piano and singing in the choir, since her mother wanted her to study music. Her father died of complications of pneumonia when she was 14, leaving her family with little money and forcing her mother to work two jobs to provide for the family.
After high school, Shayk studied marketing but later instead chose to enter a beauty school with her older sister. While there, she was noticed by a person from a local modeling agency who was struck by her beauty. She was urged to participate in the "Miss Chelyabinsk 2004" beauty contest, which she won; she described this contest as far below the standard of beauty contests one would expect in metropolitan European cities or in the United States.
Career
Modeling
In 2007, Shayk replaced Ana Beatriz Barros as the face of Intimissimi, and in the same year debuted in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
After being the face of Intimissimi for three years, Shayk was made the official ambassador for the brand in 2010. Her other modeling campaigns included Beach Bunny Swimwear, and Guess for the spring/summer 2009 season. Other work includes the Victoria's Secret catalog, Lacoste, Cesare Paciotti and Morellato. She signed with IMG Models in May 2009.
Shayk modeled the Armani Exchange spring/summer 2010 campaign. She also starred in Kanye West's "Power", directed by artist Marco Brambilla. She was on the cover of Ocean Drive and GQ South Africa for the August issue. She ranked first in the "50 Hottest Russian Women" list by Complex magazine.
She made a change from swimwear to high fashion with a spread in Spain's Harper's Bazaar and landed the cover of Elle Spain for their November 2010 issue. Glamour Spain awarded her "Best International Model of 2010". At the end of the year, she was pictured nude in the GQ Spain December issue; however, she claimed that she had not stripped for the photoshoot, and that the magazine had digitally altered the images to remove her lingerie. GQ responded that there are 15 witnesses of her posing nude.
On Valentine's Day, in an episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, it was revealed via Billboard that Shayk was the covermodel for the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. This was the fifth time she has been featured in the magazine, but the first time she has been on the cover. She is the first Russian to appear on the cover. Shayk became the face of swim label Luli Fama's 2011 advertising campaign and look book. In 2011, she covered magazines such as Tatler Russia, Twelv, Cosmopolitan Spain, GQ Mexico, Glamour Spain, Amica Italy and appeared on the covered of Elle Spain, the special edition for Christmas. She also worked for many brands like Rampage, replacing Bar Refaeli, Replay and XTI.
As of 2011 she ranked 14th in the "Top 20 Sexiest Models" list on Models.com. The same year, she was voted "Sexiest Woman In The World" in the Hungarian magazine Periodika.
Acting
Shayk made her acting debut as Megara alongside Dwayne Johnson in the 2014 film Hercules.
Personal life
Shayk met Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. They started dating soon after and got engaged in 2011 when Ronaldo flew to New York on Valentine's Day and proposed to her. Their relationship came to an end in January 2015.
In spring 2015, she started dating American actor Bradley Cooper. Their daughter was born in Los Angeles on 21 March 2017. The couple split up in June 2019.
