After her very public breakup with country star Zach Bryan last year, Barstool Sports podcaster Brianna LaPaglia is starting 2025 with a bang.
The 25-year-old posed for the latest digital cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, flew to California for a photo shoot and gave an interview about her goals for the coming year.
“It’s much more than me looking quote unquote hot in a swimsuit – it’s me reclaiming who I am as a woman, reclaiming my body, my decisions and my choices,” she said.
‘This cover shows that I am myself again and taking control of my life. This is my body.
“My body is not that experience (of her last relationship), and even though I’m not 100% in it right now, this is me. This has nothing to do with anyone else.”
In a separate SI video, LaPaglia says, “It’s Bri LaPaglia and I’m on set right now for my digital cover of Sports Illustrated.
arstool Sports podcaster Brianna LaPaglia posed for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover
LaPaglia is starting 2025 with a bang after her public split from Zach Bryan last year
‘I panic, I’m nervous, I’m happy, I’m scared, I feel all the emotions. I can’t wait, I’m so excited.
‘It means so much more to me than feeling sexy and being in a cool location. I get to do whatever I want to do, I get to do it in any way, in any amount of clothing for whoever I want.
“No one has the control over you to tell you what you can and cannot do. For me it’s not just ‘check it off the bucket list, that was really cool’. This is like reclaiming myself, and that’s what this all means to me.”
She also shared her reactions on Instagram early Wednesday when the cover shoot was released.
She shared a selfie with her hand covering her face in shock, writing, “I’m not on the digital cover of Sports Illustrated??? I’m going to throw up????’
She added, “Like WHATTTTT, I can’t wait for you guys to see and film the full interview. It means so much to me for so many reasons. REWIN MYSELF.’
It comes as LaPaglia also took on a bigger role leading the popular Barstool podcast BFFS after Dave Portnoy left the show at the end of 2024.
The first episode launched last week and LaPaglia is now co-hosting the episode with Josh Richards.
LaPaglia shared an emotional reaction early Wednesday after the shoot launched
Last year, LaPaglia underwent a high-profile divorce from famed country singer Zach Bryan
Earlier this week, LaPaglia was spotted at an influencer event on Richard Branson’s Necker Island.
In a video posted to the brand’s TikTok on Sunday, the BFFs podcast host, who very well could have been tipsy, admitted that she was looking forward to having “a lot more drinks” — and possibly her plus one in her ‘real boyfriend’. ‘
‘Hi. I’m Bri. I brought my fake boyfriend,” she said in the video. “I’m looking forward to drinking a lot more and maybe making him my real boyfriend.”
LaPaglia’s Barstool boss Portnoy came out in support of the influencer last year when it emerged that she had split from Bryan in November.
He launched a diss track at the singer called “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and repeatedly attacked him during multiple podcast appearances.
The man is a piece of shit and you should never have anything to do with him. He’s the worst,” Portnoy said during a football show at Barstool College in November.