In the 1980s, Carol Alt was the premiere Sports Illustrated cover model. For many years thereafter, no one heard neither hide nor hair from the former supermodel... until recently, when she came forward to slam current Sports Illustrated cover sensation Kate Upton!

Bonnie Fuller's Hollywood Life is reporting that the 53-year-old model -- who is currently gracing the cover of Galore Magazine, and (frankly) is looking better than ever -- says she doesn't understand the hype around the two-time Sports Illustrated cover model, calling her "fat" and crediting her smart business moves -- not her looks -- with her success as a model. "I think Kate is a product of great media hype. Without Sports Illustrated, I'm not sure she would've made it in the industry as a high fashion model. Because she is more of a large size model. And even if I've seen her in person, and I don't think she's in any way fat or overweight or anything. She is just more large-size than fashion models are," said Alt, who -- in her heyday -- graced more than 500 magazine covers and received countless ad campaigns.

Furthermore, according to the New York Daily News, Alt doesn't understand the "hullabaloo" around Upton, and thinks that she's had more word of mouth than any other model out there simply because of the existence of social media. In a nutshell, according to Alt, if the two models were pitted against each other in Alt's glory years, Upton wouldn't have stood a chance in hell in getting famous.

But Alt wasn't all full of salt and vinegar -- she went on to give props to the current Sports Illustrated cover models: Nina Agdal, Lily Aldridge and Chrissy Teigen (aka Mrs. John Legend), whose cover was released earlier this month. "All the girls are nice, and all the girls are pretty. Every cover deserves to be talked about," she said.