Meet Kelly Shibari, the First Plus-Sized 'Penthouse' Model

On Tuesday, adult performer and model Kelly Shibari will become the first plus-sized model to be featured in Penthouse. The 43-year-old will appear in a circus-themed spread with two other models who are not plus-size. 

"Adding a plus-sized girl, which is something they've never done before, is kind of a scary thing," Shibari told the Huffington Post on Friday. "On one hand, you're worried about if people are going to be like, 'Ugh, I'm never going to buy the magazine again.'"

This is not the first time Shibari has appeared in a Penthouse publication. In 2014, she made history when she became the first plus-sized model to grace the cover of the magazine's companion publication, Penthouse Forum.

Yet her upcoming appearance marks the first time a plus-size woman has been featured in Penthouse, a magazine the Huffington Post described as largely "whitewashed, ultra-thin and youth-obsessed."

"I'm sure that people there will be some people who come out of the woodwork who will be like, 'Oh God, I can't believe they put a fat girl in the magazine,'" Shibari told the Huffington Post. "But I think that the way things have been going the past few years, with size acceptance and more plus-sized men and women being in the mainstream spotlight as well as in adult entertainment, I think that the reception will be good."

Shibari, who has also made guest appearances on mainstream TV shows like Sons of Anarchy, is something of a rarity in the adult industry, which typically predominantly features slender young white women. Yet Shibari thinks the porn industry is undergoing something of a transformation. According to Shibari, porn featuring big, beautiful woman, otherwise known as "BBW porn," is increasingly becoming popular. 

"There are a lot of people in the country who are plus-size," Shibari told Cosmopolitan. "I think it stops being a specialty product, and it's becoming mainstream."

Correction Dec. 21, 2015

h/t Huffington Post