Kate Upton´s Modelling Homecoming

Kate Upton has returned to the modelling world, having inked a contract with Next Model Management. The Vogue cover girl, who left her previous agency IMG Models in 2014 to focus on her acting career, joins Alexa Chung, Caroline de Maigret and male model-of-the-moment Lucky Blue Smith, who are currently on the Next roster.

"Kate is unquestionably a bombshell, but she is also representative of today's modern woman," Faith Kates, owner of Next, and Kyle Hagler, president of Next NY, told us this morning following the signing. "Her beauty, intelligence, ambition, business acumen, and approachability, is everything Next Management celebrates."

Next will handle all of Upton's fashion and beauty projects, which in the past have included a face-of role with Bobbi Brown. Joining Brown in conversation with Alexandra Shulman at the 2015 Vogue Festival, Upton discussed how she controls her public image in the modelling world: "I see my modelling as a business. I try to be in control of my social media accounts and I try to just be myself in interviews," Upton said. "I mean, obviously I'll choose my words carefully, but you shouldn't feel pressured to be anyone but yourself."

Meanwhile, the Hollywood-based talent agencies WME and LBI Entertainment will continue to handle Upton's acting roles. With acting accolades include a breakout role in Tower Heist in 2011, Upton's largest role to date was alongside Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann in the 2014 romantic comedy The Other Woman. She now is set to appear in yet another comedy, The Layover, which is directed by William H. Macy this year.