Meet the 2023 Hooters Calendar girls: Tour visits Fort Myers, Naples, Cape Coral, Sarasota

Charles Runnells, Fort Myers News-Press
·4 min read
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Hooters bartender Grace Burchett is no stranger to the Hooters Calendar. She’s already appeared twice in the popular swimsuit calendar.

But this time, it’s different.

This time, she’s Miss March — big photo and all.

“It’s very exciting!” says Burchett, 24, of Estero. “It’s definitely exciting just to see the big picture. It’s pretty special.”

Burchett originally posed as a bartender for the Fort Myers Beach Hooters, but Hurricane Ian destroyed that restaurant. Now she works at the Naples Hooters, instead.

“It was completely leveled, like most of the beach,” she says. “It’s all gone, and that’s so sad.”

Last year: Meet Hooters 2022 calendar girls in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Sarasota, etc.

Miss Hooters International: Cape Coral's Sean Abad heads to Hooters pageant. But first, a party.

Grace Burchett of the Naples Hooters is Miss March in the 2023 Hooters Calendar. She previously worked at the Fort Myers Beach, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
Grace Burchett of the Naples Hooters is Miss March in the 2023 Hooters Calendar. She previously worked at the Fort Myers Beach, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ian.

Burchett is one of seven Southwest Florida Hooters employees appearing in the 2023 calendar, including June feature Skylar Becker, 22, of Fort Myers. More than 200 women from across the United States appear in the calendar.

“I’m so happy,” says Becker, a bartender at the Fort Myers Hooters. “It’s just an overall really cool experience, and I love that I get to be a part of this.”

Burchett, Becker and other women from the 2023 Hooters Calendar will visit six Southwest Florida Hooters restaurants this weekend on the annual Hooters Calendar Tour. The tour includes centerfold Madison Novo of Miami (also 2022’s Miss Hooters International) and Miss May Sloan Miavitz of Sarasota.

The women will meet fans, sign autographs and pose for photos.

Becker says she looks forward to the tour. She’s appeared twice before in the calendar and took part in last year’s tour, including her own Hooters in Fort Myers.

“It was so much fun,” Becker says. “All my regulars were there. It was just one big party. It’s hanging out and having a good time.”

Skylar Becker of the Fort Myers Hooters is featured for the month of June in the 2023 Hooters Calendar.
Skylar Becker of the Fort Myers Hooters is featured for the month of June in the 2023 Hooters Calendar.

About 18 more Southwest Florida Hooters employees are featured in a poster included with the 2023 calendar. The poster is only available with calendars purchased at Southwest Florida Hooters locations.

The calendar tour will make these free public stops:

  • Hooters of Naples, 3625 Gateway Lane, Naples. 6-7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16. The Hooters girls also will present a monetary donation, books and toy bears to Children’s Advocacy Center of Collier County. The Naples Hooters location has been holding a book and bear drive.

  • Hooters of Fort Myers, 4411 S. Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers. 8-9:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16.

  • Hooters of Cape Coral, 3120 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral. 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17.

  • Hooters of Port Charlotte, 1360 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte. 4:30-6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17.

  • Hooters of Sarasota, 6507 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. 7:30-9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17.

  • Hooters of Bradenton, 4908 14th St. W., Bradenton. 3:30-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18.

More about the 2023 Hooters Calendar photo shoot

Burchett and Becker traveled to The Bahamas for their photo shoots. They posed on the beach in several swimsuits they brought themselves.

“It was at sunrise, so it was very peaceful out there,” Becker says. “It was so beautiful and super calm and quiet.”

They love the resulting photos, too.

“It’s always a little nerve-wracking because you don’t get to pick your own photo,” Burchett says. “But I had a good feeling about it, because the photographer let me take a little sneak peak.

"But it’s always just such a relief to see it and to actually love it and be happy with it.”

Sean Abad of the Cape Coral Hooters appears in the 2023 Hooters Calendar.
Sean Abad of the Cape Coral Hooters appears in the 2023 Hooters Calendar.

Becker loves her photo, too, and she credits the photographers and the rest of the calendar team.

“They’re so good at doing their job and making you feel like you don’t have anything to worry about,” Becker says. “They always do a great job at making you look amazing. … I’m very happy.”

The calendars cost $15 ($25 online) and include $100 worth of Hooters coupons. They're sold at Hooters restaurants everywhere and online at hooterscalendar.com. The online versions, however, don’t include the poster featuring more Southwest Florida Hooters employees.

Hooters visitors can also take part in Operation Calendar Drop, an annual event where people buy copies of the calendar and have them sent in care packages to U.S. soldiers stationed overseas.

For more information on the tour and Southwest Florida restaurants, visit hootersflorida.com.

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1).

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hooters swimsuit calendar tour visits Fort Myers, Naples, Cape Coral