Where are they now?

All of the recent crownings in the Mid-Atlantic Region really have me thinking....."where are they now"?  A pageant girlfriend of mine remarked after Caressa won Miss America 2010, that if she were to ever win the big one, she would never do pageants again!  I asked her why and she remarked that once you've achieved the big one, what was the point of continuing.  My thoughts were - what about the fun? what about the camaraderie , what about the platforms you can promote.

As I thought about it more, I started researching the net to see if I could find where some of my favorites "are now" and if they are still competing.  Interestingly enough, I came across this cool website - Pageant Trivia.  This website has a section on it's front page where former titleholders can update their status.  I couldn't find a directory of former titleholders, but I thought the concept was quite interesting.

Our conversation was still on my mind and couldn't help wondering, should you really give up competing if you win one of the majors?  Will anyone really remember you, what mark have you made, what's your legacy as a former Miss America or Little Miss Perfect?  Will you go on to be a commercial success, a medical success story, national philanthropist or will it just be enough to know you were once Miss International?

Some former Miss Americas and state titleholders have gone on to achieve notoriety....the most {in}famous still being Vanessa Willliams.  There is also Lee Meriweather, Gretchen Carlson, Debbie Turner and Erika Dunlap, but for the most part most Miss Americas "retire" to relative obscurity.

Miss America 1990, Debbye Turner ( Missouri)

In contrast to Miss Americas, more former Miss USA titleholders remain in the spotlight after crowning their successors.  I have a few favorites of my own  - Kenya Moore, Susie Castillo, Shauntay Hinton, Laura Martinez-Herring and of course Ali Landry.

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Miss USA 1996, Ali Landry  (Louisiana)

Even some Mrs. titleholders have gone on to achieve some level of celebrity (if you can call it that).  I mean look at Omarosa - Mrs. District of Columbia America United States 2002.  She's managed to be a part of three popular reality shows.

 

There may be others that have made notable strides in other areas that have made them "famous", in the non-traditional sense that I don't know about.  But for the most part, former pageant titleholders - national, state and/or local - usually return to their normal lives or relative obscurity.    I'm pretty sure they are happy in their lives and have gone on to have wonderful families and careers, but I do wonder - have they continued to compete, do they want to ever compete again? 

There have been some very dynamic women that have held titles in the Mrs. International, Mrs. America, Ms. All-American and Mrs. United States systems and I now my quest to find out - "where are they now"?  Hopefully, they are still competing and continuing to use their titles and platforms better their communities and people around them.  Remember the crown can be used for good :-)