The most memorable Miss USA winners- where are they now?

By Jaime Levis, 8 hours ago

The evening gowns, the bathing suits, the awkward interview questions… modern beauty pageants have been around since 1921, when Miss America first emerged. When Miss America began, it was seen merely as a “bathing beauty revue” which was held simply as an activity to attract tourists to Atlantic City, New Jersey. Later on, it became about more than just looks, and a talent and interview section were added. Not too long after, followed the rival Miss USA pageant, which made its debut in 1952 following a disgruntled Miss America winner who refused to pose in a swimsuit. Basically, the swimsuit sponsor got so angry, that they decided to pull their money from the scholarship and start their own pageant.

Each year, young women compete in each state for a spot in Miss USA, and continue on to compete with other countries from around the world in the Miss Universe pageant.

The Miss USA winner gets to take home a crown, a luxury New York City apartment, a personal stylist, free travel opportunities and a cash prize. Of course, it is much more than just the cool stuff (which we admit is making us tempted to try out for the pageant ourselves). Bringing home the title of Miss USA is something that can help young women get their name out there and launch their career.

Of course, we all are well-aware of the negative stereotypes included with beauty pageants (and come on, who hasn’t seen Miss Congeniality.) Both Miss USA and Miss America have certainly received their fair share of criticism over the years. And we can see why, in this modern day and age, a woman getting judged on how well she prances around in her skimpy bathing suit can seem a bit wrong. However, women everywhere are still choosing to compete after all these years, and the broadcasted pageants still bring in over 7 million viewers.

Over the years, there have been many stunning women who have won Miss USA. While some of them you may have forgotten, some are much more memorable. The ladies on this list are all extraordinary, not just for their beauty, but for their charm, wit, strength and intelligence. Several of them went on to achieve successful careers after their reign, and used their crown to their advantage.

So why not take a few minutes to check up on what some of Miss USA’s most memorable title winners are up to today.

Ali Landry- Miss Louisiana 1996

Ali Landry represented Louisiana at the 1996 Miss USA, where she won and took home the crown. Winning the title launched her acting career. She was quickly casted in series like Sunset Beach, Clueless and The Bold and the Beautiful throughout the late ’90s. In 1998, she played in a popular Doritos Super Bowl commercial and was also named by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. A few years later, she landed a lead role as Rita in the drama series Eve.

Ali Landry now

Most recently, Ali has been working as a host for various talk shows. Her longest hosting gig was on the entertainment news show Hollywood Today Live, which got cancelled in April 2017. Ali met Mario Lopez while he was presenting the Miss USA 1998 pageant and she was a commentator. The two fell for each other and got married in 2004. The marriage was annulled only two weeks later, after Ali found out that Mario cheated on her. In 2006, she married her current husband, film director Alejandro Gómez Monteverde and the couple now have 3 children together.

Shandi Finnessey- Miss Missouri 2004

Shandi Finnessey won the Miss USA pageant in 2004, and became the first ever Missourian to win the title. Before her win, she she wrote an award-winning children’s book titled The Furtails, which was about being an individual and having disabilities. After her big win, she went on to Miss Universe and won 1st runner-up. In an interview, Shandi revealed that she was bullied in high school, and that she was constantly made fun of for her mullet hair style, thick glasses, braces and bad skin. Well, looks like she showed them after all!

Shandi Finnessey now

After Shandi’s Miss USA and Miss Universe success, she landed a job as the co-host of the GSN gameshows Lingo and PlayMania. She also went on to appear in reality shows such as The Apprentice and Dancing with the Stars. She landed a job shortly after as the host of the entertainment news show ENTV Minute. She started her acting career in 2010, and has since been in the TV sci-fi horror films Sharktopus and Piranhaconda. In 2015, she married her British boyfriend Ben Higgins and the two now has a little one-year-old boy.

Erin Brady- Miss Connecticut 2013

Erin Brady represented Connecticut in the 2013 Miss USA, and later made it into the top 10 at Miss Universe. She became the first competitor from Connecticut to ever be crowned Miss USA. Shortly before her win, she had graduated from the Central Connecticut University with a degree in finance and a minor in criminal justice. This win was her second time competing in Miss USA, the previous year she was close, and won 1st runner-up.

Erin Brady now

After Erin’s win, she married Tony Capasso, but got a divorce not long after. After a few guest appearances on TV talk shows, she returned to the field that she studied in college and got a job as a financial accountant. She has also used her Miss USA success towards several charities, and continued to work closely with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Walk for The Cure and Habitat for Humanity. She is now also working as a model, and shares some of her fabulous shots on her well-followed Instagram page.

Kristen Dalton- Miss North Carolina 2009

Kristen Dalton followed in her mother’s footsteps, who won Miss North Carolina USA in 1982. Her two sisters did the same, and were both victorious in the Miss North Carolina Teen USA competitions. So when Kristen grew up, it was only natural that she would be a pageant girl as well. She still attended college however, and graduated as an Honors Psychology and Spanish major at East Carolina University.

Kristen Dalton now

After becoming Miss USA, Kristen was placed in the top 10 at Miss Universe. She was quick to appear on television shows and even appeared on the gameshow Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. She also founded and created the online magazine She is MORE, which “inspires wonder in the heart of every woman to reveal her true identity, radiate confidence and reign with purpose.” She continued to work as a writer, and wrote several female empowerment books. Kristen’s next book, The Sparkle Effect: Release Your God-Given Radiance, will be released in May, 2018.

Olivia Culpo- Miss Rhode Island 2012

Olivia Culpo won Miss USA in 2012 after representing her home state, Rhode Island. While most winners grew up competing in pageants, this was actually the first ever pageant she ever entered. She even took home the title of Miss Universe and became the first USA competitor to win the title since Brooke Lee in 1997. Before she won the title, she was working as a model and was performing cello in several Rhode Island and Boston orchestras.

Olivia Culpo now

After she took home the crown, she had a brief career as an actress and appeared in a small role in The Other Woman with Cameron Diaz. Her modeling career also took off and she appeared in several fashion shows, and had photoshoots all over the world. Nowadays, she is focusing on her new business, a restaurant in Rhode Island that she owns with her family called Back 40, which offers comfort food with a twist. She is currently dating NFL star Danny Amendola.

Shawnae Jebbia- Miss Massachusetts 1998

Shawnae Jebbia brought home the title of Miss USA for Massachusetts in 1998. She became the state’s first ever Miss USA winner. She was originally from California, and lived there for six years until moving to the East Coast. Although she had very little prior experience in competing in pageants, she impressed the judges, receiving high scores in the evening gown and swimsuit portions, and even made it into the top 5 in Miss Universe.

Shawnae Jebbia now

During the years following Shawnae’s big win, she landed a job as The Price Is Right’s newest model and presenter. She then developed an ear disease called Ménière’s disease, which caused her to have a hearing impairment and quit her brief TV career. She decided to go back to school and received her master’s degree in nursing. She now is working as a brand ambassador for Signia hearing aids, where she speaks publicly about her illness and claims the hearing aids have changed her life.

Shawn Weatherly- Miss South Carolina 1980

The lovely Shawn Weatherly won the title of Miss USA and Miss Universe, while representing South Carolina in 1980. Shawn’s mother was a Christian Dior model and her father was in the US Air Force. When Shawn took home the crown, she won all three rounds of the competition, interview, evening gown and swimsuit portions and scored way above the rest. She was the second Miss USA winner since the previous winner in 1954.

Shawn Weatherly now

With Shawn’s stunning features and luscious blonde hair, it was no doubt that she would become a well-known face in Hollywood. Shortly after her win, she started to grab jobs in popular TV shows of the ’80s, with her most famous role as Jill Riley in Baywatch. She also appeared in several films, and portrayed bombshell Cadet Adams in Police Academy 3: Back in Training. She continued acting up until 2014, where she appeared in a comedy horror movie titled Love in the Time of Monsters. She has been married to actor Chip Harris since 1994, and the couple have two children.

Tara Conner- Miss Kentucky 2006

Tara Conner from Kentucky was titled Miss USA in 2006. She had a rough childhood, and got in a lot of trouble with the police as a teenager. She started to act out shortly after her parents separated and her grandfather, who she was very close with, passed away. She turned around and ended up getting a degree in Business Administration at a local community college and started pursuing beauty pageants. Right after she won however, she made headlines for getting caught doing illegal activities in a New York nightclub, and almost had her crown taken away.

Tara Conner now

Like most Miss USA winners, Tara had her fair share of TV appearances, which included as a guest judge in an episode of Project Runway and an interview on Live! With Regis and Kelly. However, her troubled past caught up with the small town girl, and she continued to make poor decisions and frequently got in trouble with the law. She has turned around since then, and now visits high schools to advocate against drinking and illegal substances. She is still acting here and there, and recently appeared in the indie film DriverX.

Gretchen Polhemus Jensen- Miss Texas 1989

Gretchen Polhemus Jensen competed for Miss USA back in 1989, where she represented Texas. Before her win, she was working as a cattle broker and a real estate agent in her hometown of Fort Worth. Of course, Texas is no newbie to Miss USA titles, and she became the 38th contestant to bring home the crown. She was actually the 5th Texan in a row at the time to win the title. Although she didn’t win Miss Universe, she did end up placing as 2nd runner-up.

Gretchen Polhemus Jensen now

A few years after Gretchen’s victory, she started acting and landed her first gig in the TV movie Bonanza: The Return. The former beauty queen started working as a sports correspondent on ESPN, and co-hosted the Utah news show Good Things Utah. She is currently working as the producer and host of Utah Works at ABC channel 4- Good4Utah. She is now a divorcee and is the mom of 5 children. Her daughter Baylee Jensen, decided to follow in her mother’s pageantry success, and was titled Miss Utah USA in 2017.

Rachel Smith- Miss Tennessee 2007

The exquisite Rachel Smith was born to two army parents, and was born on the US base in Panama. She and her family later on relocated to Tennessee, where Rachel attended Belmont University, graduated magna cum laude and won Miss USA the following year. She competed in her first major pageant in 2002, and she was crowned Miss Tennessee Teen USA and was voted Miss Photogenic at Miss Teen USA. After her Miss USA win, she went on to win 4th runner-up at Miss Universe.

Rachel Smith now

During Rachel’s reign, she used her new fame towards charity, and went on a trip to Kenya to volunteer with Project Sunshine. She also travelled to Iraq on a United Service Organizations tour with other celebrities such as Robin Williams and Kid Rock. She started working as an entertainment correspondent for Good Morning America in 2012, and did so until 2016. She then grabbed a job as a host for Amazon’s home shopping show titled Style Code Live, until its cancellation in May 2017.

Kim Seelbrede- Miss Ohio 1981

The beauty queen from Ohio won Miss USA in 1981, becoming the second ever Ohioan to win the title. She later competed in the Miss Universe pageant, and placed in the semi-finals. There was some speculation with her low standing in the competition, since she was the lead in the first portions of the competition. Many believed that one of the judges was bribed by a pageant official to give Kim the lowest score in the second portion, in order to keep her from placing in the finals.

Kim Seelbrede now

Following Miss Universe, Kim pursued a career in television, which led her to several appearances in soap operas and commercials. She ended up attending New York University where she graduated with a BA and Master’s in Psychology. She now works as a life coach and psychotherapist in New York City, and has her own practice called New York Integrative Therapy. Kim has two children with her ex-husband Neil Cole, who she met at the Miss Universe contest.

Brooke Lee- Miss Hawaii 1997

The Hawaiian beauty was crowned both Miss USA and Miss Universe in 1997. Although she had very little prior experience in pageants, she made a splash at Miss Hawaii USA and won on her first try. She kept going strong all the way to her victorious Miss Universe pageant, where she gave the infamous “I would eat everything in the world” answer when asked what she would do if there were no rules. At 26-years-old, she became the oldest Miss Universe contestant, as well as the first native Hawaiian to win the title.

Brooke Lee now

As soon as Brooke won, she decided to continue her education and studied communications at the University of Hawaii. After her reign, she made multiple guest appearances on talk shows and even landed a couple small parts in the popular ’90s series The Nanny and Boy Meets World. Brooke went on to judge the reality show “Call to Cosplay” until 2016, and is now focusing on her favorite job yet- as a mom to her two children.

Kandace Krueger- Miss Texas 2001

Kandace Krueger from Texas, took home the title of Miss USA in 2001, and later became the 2nd runner-up in Miss Universe. She started competing in beauty pageants as a teenager, and competed in Miss Texas USA numerous times throughout the nineties until she finally took home the title in 2001. Kandace studied journalism at Texas A&M before she became Miss USA, and always had dreams of working as a news broadcaster.

Kandace Krueger now

One year after Kandace’s win, she got to live her dream as a broadcaster, by being a presenter for the following Miss USA competition. With her charm and beauty, she was seen as the perfect television personality and landed hosting jobs on shows like Across America and Hollywood Red Carpet. She is now hosting her own weekday television talk show titled Today with Kandace, which is broadcast from Dallas, Texas.

Kimberly Pressler- Miss New York 1999

Kimberly Pressler took home the title of Miss USA in 1999, while representing the state of New York. She became one of only four women to ever seize both Miss New York Teen USA and Miss New York USA crowns. Not only that, she was also the fourth woman from New York to ever take home the Miss USA title. Unfortunately, she did not score as well in Miss Universe, and did not place in the semifinals becoming only the second Miss USA contestant to not place in the competition.

Kimberly Pressler now

Kimberly stayed active in Miss USA, and was an honorary guest in 2011’s 60th anniversary of Miss USA. She also was the host of both the Miss Massachusetts USA and Miss Massachusetts Teen USA contests, and still frequently judges Miss USA state pageants. Kimberly’s vibrant and outgoing personality landed her hosting gigs for ABC, NBC, MTV and FOX Sports. She is currently appearing as the lane side reporter on ESPN’s Professional Bowlers Association.

Chelsi Smith Miss Texas 1995

The gorgeous Texan, Chelsi Smith, took home the crown for both Miss USA and Miss Universe in 1995. Chelsi made history by becoming the first Miss Texas USA of African-American heritage. In Miss Universe, Chelsi stunned the judges in each portion of the competition, and she became the highest placed contestant in Mis Universe history at the time, and also was the first Miss USA to bring home the title in 15 years.

Chelsi Smith now

Chelsi got work as a model right after her win, and she became the face of Hawaiian Tropic, Pontiac and Venus Swimwear. She had her fair share of on-screen appearances, including a spot as a celebrity contestant on Wheel of Fortune and a role in the indie film Playas Ball. She is still making guest appearances here and there, and most recently was a judge in the Miss Peru beauty pageant.

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