Pageant News Bureau - Amanda Carraway

Actually, the official address is Hawaii. That's where "Destination Stardom" and the current version of "Baywatch" are produced. In the fall of 1999, Ms. Carraway became a leading competitive model on "Destination Stardom," and she also found work on the world's most famous show about statuesque lifeguards.

For the moment, she's in the "Baywatch" background, as a bikini-clad extra. But Ms. Carraway would be impossible to miss even on the most crowded beach. Millions of people are glimpsing her as she strolls the sands, and acting careers have been launched from just such exposure. Besides, it's fun. Unlike Dorothy, she doesn't have to wear tight shoes.

With Leah Sexton in September, giving up the Miss Kansas USA title.

Kansas is still home, of course, and Ms. Carraway may be going back soon. But her acting ambitions are long-term. Her dream is to star in a soap opera.

Ms. Carraway is like a prairie flower, beautiful but definitely not fragile. As a girl, she endured colossal tragedy (see PNB coverage, Miss USA 1999), and she went on to win the Miss Kansas Teen USA and Miss Kansas USA titles. Few women are as much loved by other pageant contestants, even by other contestants' mothers. (She was surprised when we told her this, but deeply touched.)

As they say in Oz, this girl has a heart, she has a brain, she has courage. And as they say in television, she's got the look.

Photos courtesy of Amanda Carraway

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u

She's not in Kansas anymore (at least not all the time)

With Leah Sexton in September, giving up the Miss Kansas USA title.

Photos courtesy of Amanda Carraway