Who Is Kate Upton And Why Do You Think She's Hollywood's Hottest?

Take that, haters!

Despite the recent criticism Kate Upton has come under regarding her famous curves, there's no doubt in HuffPost Celebrity readers' minds that she's the fairest of them all.

The model/actress left the competition eating dust in our HuffPost Heatwave: Hottest Women of Summer 2012 contest. Not even Blake Lively, Emma Stone or Kourtney Kardashian could compete. So what is it about this blond bombshell that has everyone giving her their vote? We're on the case.

The 20-year-old stunner was born in Michigan (her uncle is Michigan congressman Fred Upton) before moving to Florida, where she became an accomplished equestrian, competing on the national level. But her barnyard days soon came to a halt when she attended an Elite Model Management casting in 2008 and booked a spot in the agency the same day. And like so many aspiring catwalkers, Upton moved to New York City, where she was later signed to IMG modeling agency.

But Upton had her sights set on more than just gracing the pages of glossies. In 2011, she landed a small role in the Eddie Murphy-Ben Stiller flick "Tower Heist," before earning her sophomore role in "The Three Stooges."

But perhaps what put Upton on the tipping point of household-name status was her 2012 cover of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition as well as a viral video that left any guy with an Internet connection drooling over his keyboard.

In May, celebrity photographer Terry Richardson posted a video of Upton doing a dance called the "cat daddy" in a barely there bikini, on his website. To say the least, Upton's moves made their way around the Internet and back again.

Upton is certainly on the rise.