Remi Bader Posts Unedited Photos From Swimsuit Runway Show and Reflects On Health Journey
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Remi Bader Posts Unedited Photos From Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Runway Debut
Remi Bader walked the runway for the magazine’s Swim Week fashion show May 31. She shared photos and videos from the milestone moment on her Instagram June 1. In the caption, she penned a “sappy long’ statement about why the runway show was so meaningful after opening up about her weight loss and surgery. She said she was unsure who she would represent when she appeared on the catwalk because she doesn’t know where she fits in. She added that she simply just stood for every girl or woman who’s felt lost about where she belongs, but still chooses to show up and put herself out there no matter what. She also expressed her gratitude to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit for asking her to participate. She revealed in an interview with Self magazine that she underwent a weight loss surgery called single anastomosis duodenal-ileal bypass (SADI-S) in December 2023. The procedure is a hybrid of gastric sleeve and gastric bypass.
The internet celebrity strutted down the catwalk for the magazine’s Swim Week fashion show May 31, posing first in a leopard print bikini and later returning in a blue bandana-style two piece and zebra-print hat.
Bader shared photos and videos from the milestone moment on her Instagram June 1 that showed her smiling wide and throwing her hands up in the air as she fully embraced the spotlight.
Remi Bader walks the runway at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Runway Show on May 31, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida. Ivan Apfel / Getty Images
In the caption, she penned a “sappy long” statement about why the runway show was so meaningful after opening up about her weight loss and surgery.
“The past two months since I opened up about my surgery and everything I’ve been through mentally and physically over the past year and a half, I have been feeling quite a range of emotions,” she said. “Before I walked the runway last night, my dear friend, @noordinarynoire asked me how I was feeling — and I told her: not the way I thought I would.”
She said she was unsure who she would represent when she appeared on the catwalk because she doesn’t know where she fits in.
“I’m not plus size, I’m not skinny… I didn’t know what people wanted me to stand for and I didn’t like not having an answer,” she wrote.
During that instance of self-doubt, she recalled her friend offering some advice: “‘You don’t need to have (an answer).’” Her friend reminded her that she is “‘Remi f—ing Bader.”
“And in that moment, something finally clicked,” the TikToker wrote. “Since I started sharing my life online 5 years ago, I’ve constantly tried to figure out which box I belong in based on solely what others want me to be in and that has only been based on my appearance. But last night, I simply just stood for every girl or woman who’s felt lost about where she belongs, but still chooses to show up and put herself out there no matter what.”
She said that was all she needed to embody when she walked the runway.
Bader continued, “Looking at these unedited photos and not wishing to change a thing reminds me how far I’ve come — not for vanity, but for my mental, emotional, and physical health. To go from not knowing if I’d ever be able to walk out of my house again a year ago, to walking that runway confidently, smiling, and not thinking twice about what anyone else saw, but how good I FELT — and that’s something I’ll never take for granted.”
To conclude, she expressed her gratitude to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit for asking her to participate.
“And sorry (but very much not sorry) for the long caption,” she cheekily added and included a white heart.
As she mentioned in her post, Bader has opened up in the past about her health journey. In March, she revealed in an interview with Self magazine that she underwent a weight loss surgery called single anastomosis duodenal-ileal bypass (SADI-S) in December 2023. The procedure is a hybrid of gastric sleeve and gastric bypass.
She described the recovery process as “the most brutal thing.”
“I was in recovery hours, hours, hours, hours, throwing up. It was not normal,” she explained. “I was supposed to leave (the hospital) in one day. I could not stop projectile vomiting, and I couldn’t drink water. They won’t let you leave if you can’t drink water. I actually can’t explain how horrible it was.”
Bader continued to struggle as she recovered. She shared that she fell into a “deep depression” that was “the scariest time of my life.”
But, she said later in the interview that she has improved.
“Am I happy overall right now, happier than when I was dealing with the health issues and the back pain and all those things? Yes. I have more energy. All of my health stuff went back to normal after years and years and years,” she said at the time.
She added, “I think I’ve let so many people take my power away for a long time. I will never regret having my time to heal, and I’m still healing and figuring it out. … That was none of the internet’s business—these people that don’t know me—and that was for me to figure out.”