Queen of the Clouds wrote:Mariana Erwin wrote:I want to see a former Miss Teen USA to compete this year. Hopefully they are not discouraged to compete and someone will finally win Miss USA.
I would love that too! Not sure how realistic that is though. I think most Miss Teen USAs end up retiring after winning the crown because they want to go out on a high note, and others just grow out of pageantry by the time they become an adult (especially because some use prizes for scholarship money, although I'm not sure if the winners still get that now). Also, the Miss USA system can launch careers for their national pageant winners, so most Miss Teen USA winners already get their careers launched when they're teens, and don't need to compete in the Miss division to get where they want to be (look at Cassidy Wolf and Kamie Crawford, who are both now TV hosts).
I believe we haven't seen a former winner do a Miss division state pageant since Danielle Doty competed in Miss Texas USA 2018, and she only placed as a semifinalist there (which is pretty embarrassing I would say). Looking at the past few winners, I think K. Lee Graham and Katherine Haik would be the most likely to come back to pageantry. Karlie Hay just got engaged (plus I think her racism controversy disqualifies her), Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff is just starting law school in California, Hailey Colborn is still finishing her undergrad at Princeton, and it's obviously too soon for Kaliegh Garris.
I think your "go out on a high note" thing is very true, especially as the age of "girls who did well at Miss Teen USA will do well at Miss USA" is kind of over. Every year lately, we've seen runners up from Miss Teen USA clap at Miss USA (Angelia Layton & Lexi Atkins in 2014, Brooke Fletcher and Julia Dalton in 2015, Haley Sowers in 2016, Katie Coble in 2017, Tori Sizemore in 2018, Haley Holloway in 2019). I think that pattern of "doing well at Miss Teen USA is no guarantee of success at Miss USA". could be really discouraging to Miss Teen USA winners who would rather retire on a high note.
I've also noticed a pattern that former Miss Teen USAs are just as successful if not moreso than former Miss USAs. Vanessa Lachey, Allie Laforce, and Kamie Crawford are all household names and tremendously successful in their respective fields. I can see a former Miss Teen USA wanting to follow in their footsteps, rather than try for Miss.
That said, I'd love it if Hailey did decide to compete as a Miss.