NEW YORK – It is useless to try to pigeonhole Martha Stewart.

Decorously entertaining homemaker-slash-lifestyle guru, television personality, publisher, canny entrepreneur turned white-collar criminal, Snoop Dogg’s unlikely best friend – these are labels she spins, or drops when it suits her, as adroitly as a juggler.

Resisting attempts to peg or malign her, Stewart has survived and even thrived – “not as a Superwoman”, as American writer Joan Didion once put it, “but as an Everywoman”.

But now, at 81, American businesswoman Stewart seems intent on shrugging off that label, swopping her “domestic goddess” persona for something saucier: bad-a** Martha, who will shuck her inhibitions as lightly as an ear of corn.

In recent months, Stewart has teased her four million Instagram followers with demiclad snaps of herself. She promoted her partnership with Green Mountain Coffee wearing an apron, halter-style, over what seemed to be nothing at all.

She followed those antics with a naughty throwback: her 1996 Spy magazine cover, a siren on a seashell, knees hugged to her chest to cover her nudity.

Now, in what some may consider the ultimate stroke of bravado, Stewart appeared on one of the four covers of the storied Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, which dropped last week.

She is not the first woman over 60 to appear on the cover. At 74, model Maye Musk claimed that distinction.

But Stewart may well be the most candidly cheerful participant in what seems a bid by Sports Illustrated to court controversy and hang on to its relevance.

Her experience was simultaneously a novelty and a test of grit, Stewart said over the telephone. In this edited interview, she talked about flirting, American artiste Madonna, sexual confidence and more.

What gave you the gumption to pose?

Actually, this was a rather large challenge. I had to make sure I was ready to pose in a bathing suit. It took a bit of vanity, but also a bit of confidence. I thought: “If I’m feeling good enough physically and mentally to do such a thing, I’m up for it.”

Did it take a lot of prep work?

I’m still healthy, my hair is nice and my skin is good. As for filters, forget it. I keep my facial appointments with (Romania-born chemist and skincare specialist) Mario Badescu. I’ve done that once a month religiously for 40-something years.

And your body?

I had two months, basically, to make sure I felt good enough about the way I look. If I had thought my waist was too big or that I was too wobbly, I wouldn’t have done it.

But, after working in pilates three times a week, I thought I could. Also, I went to the tanning booth and had a very light spray tan, something I’ve never done.

Were there physical challenges during the shoot?

I had to wear nine bathing suits. All these people were prodding me and talking about “the girls”.

I have never called my breasts “the girls” in my life. I hate stuff like that. The whole time, these people were nudging me: “Poke this out, push that in.” I had to put up with that for eight hours.

Still, we were shooting in the Dominican Republic and I had a really good time.

How do you come by the sexual confidence to pull off a move like this?

It doesn’t have as much to do with blatant sex as it does with a self-assurance that started when I was a child. When the offer came, I thought: “I can do this. I don’t have to give in to convention.”

How else would I, as an 81-year-old, have talked myself into feeling good about getting into a bathing suit?

Do you flirt?

Of course, I do. I’m not shy. I find certain men very attractive. If I am at a social event, I will make sure that I talk to those very attractive men.

About a year ago, you joked with (American comedienne) Chelsea Handler that while you are no homewrecker, you are waiting for friends to die, so you can swoop down on their husbands. Do you stand by that?

I don’t take it back. But, well, the husbands do tend to go first. And really, I prefer younger men.

Are you posing in a swimsuit to counter an image that once seemed starchy, even intimidating? Are you rebranding?

No, this is part of my ongoing self-creation. I call it education. One of my mottos for many years has been: When you’re through changing, you’re through.

You seem to share that conviction with Madonna. Yet when Madonna, who is 64, turned up at the Grammys in February with her face showing signs of a cosmetic procedure, she caught a lot of flak. So far, you have not.

I would never compare myself with someone like Madonna. She is a talent like no other. But as a performer, she needs to keep reinventing herself. And it’s much more difficult for her to alter herself without altering her face. I don’t want to do that.

But there’s another very big difference between me and Madonna: She is wearing pointy bras and weird clothes. I’m teaching you how to roll dough. NYTIMES