Professional cheerleading Kostek started her
professional cheerleading career at age 19 with the
Hartford Colonials of the
United Football League. In 2013, while a junior at university, Kostek made it to the roster of the
National Football League's
New England Patriots Cheerleaders. She landed the cover of the
Patriots annual swimsuit calendar which was shot in
Saint Lucia in 2014. She also joined the
NFL Tour in China as the team's ambassador. Kostek was featured in
advertising campaigns for
Patriot Place and served as spokesperson for the cheer team. In her last game before retirement, she performed at the
University of Phoenix Stadium in
Arizona for
Super Bowl XLIX where the Patriots beat the
Seattle Seahawks on February 1, 2015.
Hosting Kostek was a
reporter for
NESN's
Dirty Water TV from 2016 to 2017 covering travel as well as sports events, including
NASCAR. Since 2018, she has
hosted and
corresponded for
South by Southwest, the
Super Bowl, the
National Hockey League,'' She has also co-hosted radio shows on
SiriusXM. Out of college, Kostek was offered a job on
ESPN's
Saturday Night Football, but turned it down for the opportunity to travel while modeling. In September 2020, she was announced as on-field host of game show
Wipeout on
TBS. She joined her first
modeling agency in
Boston in 2015, and became brand
ambassador and model for
Benrus,
Equinox Fitness, and
Dune Jewelry. Her early work consisted of print and television advertisements for brands like
Nissan,
New Balance, and Rebag. Kostek did editorials for
Elle, and appeared on the covers of
Ocean Drive,
BELLA,
Haute Living, The Improper Bostonian among others. Kostek has done campaigns and ambassadorships for various clothing and
cosmetic brands. including
L'Oréal,
Victoria's Secret, and
Clarins. She also did
ad campaigns for fashion line
Kittenish, and walked the
runway for its Spring/Summer 2019 collection at
New York Fashion Week. Kostek is a longtime model and ambassador for
Reebok, headlining the brand's PureMove Bra and Nano X1 campaigns. Kostek initially found difficulty securing modeling
representation as agencies kept telling her she was not tall enough at 5'8", or thin enough at dress size 4/6. She submitted a video of her experience to the
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue which was conducting an
open casting call. She was scouted, and walked the runway for the
SI Swimsuit Fashion Show during
Miami Beach Swim Week in July 2017. The following month, she was photographed by
Yu Tsai in Belize for the 2018 issue. Kostek was chosen from 5,000 open casting call candidates and won the inaugural
Sports Illustrated Swim Search in March 2018. and closed the show the following year. The first model announced for the 2019 issue, Kostek shot in
South Australia with photographer Josie Clough, and landed a solo cover in her official year as a rookie.
Connecticut Magazine named her in their "40 under 40" list of influential people of 2018, and she was included in
Maxim's Hot 100 list of Sexiest Women in the World in 2019.
Acting Kostek made her film debut with a
cameo appearance in
STX Entertainment's 2018 comedy
I Feel Pretty starring
Amy Schumer.
Other ventures Since 2018, Kostek designs her namesake
jewelry collections for
Dune Jewelry. In 2020, she released a clothing and accessory collection inspired by her trademark phrase "Never Not Dancing" with Shine the Light On, proceeds of which benefit mental health charities. Her body-inclusive
swimsuit and
loungewear collection
Swimsuits For All was released on May 3, 2021. Kostek toured U.S. universities and colleges in 2019 for her "Own It" Tour, where she gave talks on
self-acceptance and
body image. == Personal life ==