Risqué Outfits We Can't Believe CNN's Kaitlan Collins Wore

Kaitlan Collins has made a name for herself as a hard-hitting White House correspondent and anchor of "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" on CNN. Her reporting skills have been lauded by the likes of Time Magazine, who included her on its 2024 Time100 Next List, and Variety included her on its New Power of New York list in 2023. Accolades aside, this Alabama native seems to attract a fair amount of drama, such as her ongoing spats with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, her reputation as a diva, and her feuds with the likes of Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly.

What doesn't usually cause drama with Collins, however, is her sense of style. She tends to wear professional, polished pieces, whether she's in the press gallery or sitting in the anchor's seat. She's not one to shy away from color but also rocks a little black dress like a pro. That doesn't mean she's immune to wearing something that turns heads. In fact, Collins has donned some risqué outfits in recent years. But we like to see her take a bit of a risk when it comes to her fashion. It suits her fiery personality, which seems to get plenty of coverage thanks to her ongoing feud with Leavitt.

Despite rumors that Kaitlan Collins could be getting fired from CNN, the political reporter has held onto her coveted 9 p.m. anchor slot while being named White House correspondent for the network in 2025 for a second tour with President Trump. For someone who turned 33 in April 2025, she's accomplished an impressive amount in her career, including being one of the youngest-ever White House correspondents for a major network.

The brunette beauty deserves her downtime. One such occasion where she apparently let loose was to ring in the dawn of a new decade. She and her friends went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in April 2022 to celebrate the correspondent's 30th birthday. In a carousel of pics posted to Instagram, we can see Collins enjoying the festivities in a white bikini and sheer coverup. (We use the word coverup loosely here, as it doesn't really cover anything.) Collins herself commented on the post with: "The best!" Other feedback on the post included one person calling Collins a model and another writing, "So in [heart emojis]." Is a white bikini particularly risqué? Not really. But for Collins, who tends to veer away from revealing much skin to the public, this glimpse of her shrugging off her professional attire for beachwear was a rare occurrence.

Whether the plastic surgery rumors that plague Kaitlan Collins are true or not, one thing is for certain –- the CNN anchor rarely shows a lot of skin, so this outfit she wore on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" was a bit of a risqué outfit that we wouldn't expect to see her in.

When she appeared on the Bravo show in February 2024 alongside "Real Housewives" alum Sutton Stracke, Collins wore an Alexandre Vauthier suit. The sparkly pinstripe ensemble featured a fitted jacket with nothing underneath, exposing a bit of side boob, and a Y necklace that further brought the eye to the cleavage area. The scintillating suit carries a price tag of over $1,100, which is probably no biggie for Collins, who rakes in a reported $3 million annually.

Fellow CNN colleague Anderson Cooper has praised Kaitlan Collins' work ethic and once wrote in Time that while anchors at news stations rotate frequently, he's "not worried about Kaitlan. She will outwit, outplay, and outlast us all. She is that good, and she is only just getting started." Her staunch professionalism even extends to her Instagram feed, which mostly features her on the job wearing a suit and asking hard-hitting questions. So it's a refreshing change when she posts something completely different and a little risqué, like this somewhat revealing vacation look that she posted in April 2024.

The photo was snapped at Rossina Cafe in Mexico. The cafe is known for its baked goods and coffees, but it looks like it was wine-o'clock for Collins. Fans, and even those who aren't lovers of Collins' sometimes-feisty rhetoric, loved the look. One commenter wrote: "Don't agree with anything she says...but damn she's [flame emojis]." Others added, "Never seen a woman more beautiful than her she's incredible in every way," and "Beautiful southern belle."

This definitely deserves a shout-out on the list of times when Kaitlan Collins showed off her killer legs. As a guest on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in August 2024, CNN anchor Collins turned the sexy up on her polished, professional style in a square-neck black dress that showed off a hint of cleavage while flaunting her toned arms and legs. She finished the look with gold footwear, Larroudé mules, which she also wore to the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Collins told Marie Claire that her "professional, classic, and crisp" sense of style serves as "a supporting character" for her job as a news anchor. And this look, with its subtle risqué elements, worked well for a polished professional in a lighter atmosphere. Fans loved her dress and shoes, as well as her hair. She often gets told she has the best hair on TV.

You might be wondering how a top with a high ruffled neck and white jeans can be considered risqué when very little skin, apart from beautifully-toned arms, is shown. Well, this look of Kaitlan Collins' isn't risqué in that it's suggestive or revealing. No, we can't believe the CNN anchor wore this because she is drinking an espresso martini in all white. In all white, people. One jostle from a stranger sidling up to the bar, or her friend — who posted the photo of the pair in the UK in July 2018 — enthusiastically nudging her, and there is suddenly brown all over that cute white outfit. If you've seen Collins in action, she uses her arms expressively when she's animated. A few martinis in and down comes that cocktail. And a rich chocolate shade is not a pretty one when spilled on white.

So, while this look isn't risqué in the suggestive sense, Collins was certainly taking a risk with a potentially embarrassing stain. Like all of the outfits above, we'd gladly see Collins repeat any of these riskier looks again.