Rob Gronkowski, Camille Kostek compete in live ice bath challenge to raise $20K for charity
Former NFL tight end and four-time Super Bowl champ Rob Gronkowski and his girlfriend, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Camille Kostek, took a frigid plunge for a good cause on Friday.
The pair joined "Good Morning America" in Times Square on a brisk, rainy fall morning to raise $20,000 for the charity of their choice by submerging themselves in a 44-degree ice bath.
"I'm as ready as I can be this early for an ice bath," Kostek said before taking a dip.
"I'm here for the The Peter Frates Family ALS Foundation. I am not giving up. I'm in here all four minutes baby," she said while sitting in the icy water. "This is for a great foundation that I'm here to represent. I'm going all the way."
The foundation, chosen by Kostek, is famous for the Ice Bucket Challenge, which has raised awareness for the debilitating nervous system disease. The nonprofit raises funds to assist progressed ALS patients with the massive financial burden of home health care.
Gronkowski, meanwhile, was raising money for his own charity.
"I am raising awareness for the Gronk Nation Youth Foundation, which my family started about six or seven years ago. We love raising money for kids so they have the opportunity to succeed like I did growing up," Gronkowski said while partially submerged in the ice bath.
While passing the time and talking through the cold, Michael Strahan asked Kostek if she ever imagined doing something like this when she started dating Gronk, to which she replied, "I'm not really shocked by this. I think what brought Gronk and I together was our love of competition."
While checking in on Gronk around the halfway mark, Strahan hinted that the ice bath could be beneficial if the 34-year-old was looking to get back on the gridiron.
"I''m not going back to the NFL," Gronk told the Hall of Fame defensive lineman.
"I'll go back, if you go back. I'll play [defensive end] if you play [defensive end] as well," he challenged Strahan with a laugh.
Kostek, nearing the final minute of cold plunge, said they do take cold showers every day, but noted, "I've never had to talk while I do it."
The pair recently co-founded Voomerang, an innovative digital sweepstakes platform, which Gronk said "raise[s] awareness for various charities while giving away life-changing luxury prizes to lucky winners."
With under 30 seconds to go, Gronk hopped out of the aluminum tub, conceding to Kostek, who submerged all of her body except her head for the remainder of the time, earning her charity $20,000.
Gronkowski still walked away with $5,000 for his respective charity.
