Pageant News Bureau - Shanna Moakler

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

Fate stepped in

An early publicity shot, sent to PNB on its founding. (Courtesy of Shanna Moakler)

Shanna Moakler never won the Miss Universe crown. She never even competed at Miss Universe. But it was the Miss Universe Pageant that helped make this voluptuous blonde a celebrity.

Ms. Moakler is hot now: Actress, reality show star, model in men's magazines, darling of the gossip columns. Her list of male conquests includes rock stars, a movie idol, a sports legend. She's either the wildest party girl or the ultimate homebody, depending on which magazine you read. She's famous.

Most of her fans have heard that she was Miss USA 1995, but they don't really know how or why. It wasn't by the usual route.

Above, Shana was a little overwhelmed at first. (Special to PNB) At left, the young queen. (Arlyne Q. Peters / PNB

In 1995, Ms. Moakler, a former Miss Teen All American, competed at the Miss USA Pageant.. She finished as first runner-up to Chelsi Smith. Then Ms. Smith went to Namibia to compete for the Miss Universe title, and won it. So the Miss USA crown passed to Ms. Moakler.

Shanna was shy in those days. Glamorous but shy, awed by the flashing cameras and the persistent interviewers. And she didn't always get respect, with some catty pageant fans calling her a "step-in," a "fill-in," "an accidental queen."

But she was Miss USA, so she couldn't run. She couldn't duck. She wore the sash with pride.

In those few months, she blossomed. And somebody noticed just how sexy she was. Now everybody knows. And she owes it all to the Miss Universe Pageant.

Or does she owe the pageant anything at all? Maybe it was destiny. Maybe it was star heat.

As Miss Teen All American 1993

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