She was just named the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl for the second year in a row, and Kate Upton celebrated with a trip to the “Today” show this morning (February 12).

The buxom blonde supermodel was in good spirits as she chatted about her unusual photo shoot in the icy land of Antarctica.

Upton began, “I was very surprised by the news that [Antarctica] was where my shoot was going to be located… It was freezing! I’m from Florida so it wasn’t great for me. Obviously the pictures now, it’s incredible. I can’t believe we were able to accomplish that.”

And though it was quite chilly, Kate relied on some animal friends to keep her going. “The penguins kept me going. They’re adorable and any time I was like, ‘I can’t do it anymore ,’ I would look at them and I was like, ‘Okay, for them [I can do it].’ I was doing it for the penguins.”

Kate also got out her own camera and directed the anchors in an impromptu photo shoot while giving them specific instructions on how to look their best.