Camille Kostek laughs off narrative that she became NFL cheerleader to date Gronk

Camille Kostek didn’t spend nearly two decades training as a dancer to secure an NFL player.

The model — who met her boyfriend, former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski, while she was a cheerleader for the Patriots in 2015 — reminisced about her time with the organization and how their relationship might’ve looked on the surface.

“When people hear you’re an NFL cheerleader, they might think you’re just trying to date an athlete. To have to train for 17 years as a dancer — that’s a difficult way to get a boyfriend,” Kostek said in a cover interview for the May/June 2024 issue of Maxim magazine.

Camille Kostek covers the May/June 2024 issue of Maxim magazine. Gilles Bensimon Camille Kostek covers the May/June 2024 issue of Maxim magazine. Gilles Bensimon Camille Kostek covers the May/June 2024 issue of Maxim magazine. Gilles Bensimon

The 32-year-old, who retired her pom poms for good to pursue a career in entertainment, modeled a white button-up shirt and under in the same color on the cover, and stunned in a series of sultry looks in other shots.

Kostek was a Patriots cheerleader when Gronkowski won his first Super Bowl with the team in February 2015.

The “Free Guy” actress, who began dancing at age three, joined the Patriots’ cheerleading roster in 2013 and landed the cover of the cheerleaders’ annual swimsuit calendar, which was shot in Saint Lucia.

New England Patriots cheerleader Camille Kostek stands on the field prior to Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. Getty Images Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski, center, celebrates alongside Camille Kostek, third from left, as the Patriots parade through downtown Boston on Feb. 5, 2019, to celebrate their win over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53. AP Camille Kostek covers the May/June 2024 issue of Maxim magazine. Gilles Bensimon Camille Kostek covers the May/June 2024 issue of Maxim magazine. Gilles Bensimon

“I feel like, at surface level, when someone reads a quick bio about me or they ask what I do and I say I’m a model or TV host, or they learn that I rose to prominence for posing in a bikini, they can be quick to judge,” Kostek told Maxim.

“But the reason I was drawn to [modeling] in the first place wasn’t because I wanted to be in a bikini and pose, it was about loving the skin that I’m in. Even when I was struggling to love it. Thankfully, advertising is evolving, but at that time, it was difficult to even find a girl with freckly skin or see a girl’s boobs hang in her bikini top! That was attractive, natural and beautiful to me. I wanted to see someone who looked like myself or my [friends] in magazines.”

Kostek explained that she believes “rejection is redirection” when it comes to to her career.

“You have to embrace who you are. The quicker you believe that and settle into that mindset, the more everything just flows in life — with health, yourself, relationships and career,” she said.

“My first big TV show was ‘Wipeout’ on TBS when they did the reboot [in 2021].”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski, right, and Camille Kostek wave from a boat during a celebration of their Super Bowl 55 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs with a boat parade, Feb. 10, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. AP

Kostek is currently focused on her career in modeling, acting and hosting — and is set to make her seventh straight appearance in the 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit magazine, which releases in May.

“I hate being complacent. I feel like I get bored easily, so I’m constantly trying to find new things,” she said. “Acting is that thing for me right now that scares me so bad because I’m used to being a TV host, talking directly to the camera. Embodying a character and pretending the cameras aren’t there is still new to me, but I love it.”

Kostek also said she has stint with “Dancing With the Stars” on her vision board for 2024.

As for Gronkowski? The future Fall of Fame tight end called it a career for good after the 2021 season and has transitioned into broadcasting.

His first retirement came in March 2019, and then he returned a year later to join pal Tom Brady on the Buccaneers, with the duo winning another Super Bowl together in February 2021.

Gronkowski and Kostek attended the Boston Marathon, where the four-time Super Bowl champ served as the grand marshal of the race.

The couple attended a Red Sox-Guardians game in the same weekend and Gronkowski spiked a football on the mound before he threw out the first pitch at Fenway.