Former Miss America applauds swimsuit decision
Former Miss America Mallory Hagan, who was born in Memphis, on Tuesday praised the Miss America pageant’s decision to scrap its swimsuit competition.
“I’m ecstatic about the changes,” Hagan said a live Facebook chat. “I’ve gotten so many text messages from young women this morning saying, ‘Maybe I can win now.’ ”
Hagan, who was on Tuesday’s Democratic primary ballot for Alabama’s Third District congressional seat, grew up in Opelika, Alabama. She was born in Memphis, however, and in online interviews has talked about growing up in her grandmother’s Memphis dance studio, honing her tap dancing skills.
Hagan also was at the center of an email scandal last year that brought down pageant leaders over emails that disparaged Hagan and other pageant contestants.
Sam Haskell, the pageant’s former executive director, resigned along with President Josh Randle and other board members. They were replaced by an allfemale leadership team including former Miss America Gretchen Carlson, who now chairs the pageant’s board of trustees.
Carlson announced the decision on swimsuits Tuesday morning, saying the evening gown portion of the competition also would be revamped.
“We’re no longer judging women when they come out in their chosen attire — their evening wear, whatever they choose to do,” Carlson said. “It’s gonna be what comes out of their mouth that we’re interested in, when they talk about their social impact initiatives.”
Hagan, in her Facebook chat, applauded the decision. The pageant winner, Hagan said, is obligated by contract not to appear in a swimsuit while Miss America. She said “it never made sense to me” that part of the competition would be something that winners are not even allowed to do.
“If we are touting that Miss America is about empowerment and leadership and scholarship and education and et cetera,” she said, “why do we waste valuable time on our telecast ... showcasing girls in a swimsuit?”
Hagan, in remarks aimed at a post-#MeToo pageant world, also talked candidly in the Facebook chat about her struggles with weight.
“A lot of internal struggle goes on post pageant,” said Hagan, who won the crown in 2013 as Miss New York. “I was 124 pounds onstage at 5-foot-7. I now weigh 164.
“I would argue that the average person in public thinks I have a normal size body right now (but) I personally don’t feel great at all about how I look. And so that internal battle and struggle between what is normal and healthy in public and what is acceptable onstage at Miss America can lead to some real struggles.”
Hagan said she is excited to be associated with an organization that finally is led by women who have “done the job” of being Miss America and understand what it means.
Hagan was the favorite to win her Tuesday congressional primary. The winner will face eight-term Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., who faced no opposition in Tuesday’s GOP primary.