Lauren Nelson

Lauren Nelson
Born (1986-11-26) November 26, 1986
Lawton, Oklahoma
Alma mater MacArthur High School
University of Central Oklahoma
Occupation News Anchor
Title Miss Teen Lawton 2004
Miss Teen Oklahoma 2004
Miss Oklahoma State Fair 2006
Miss Oklahoma 2006
Miss America 2007
Predecessor Jennifer Berry
Successor Kirsten Haglund
Spouse(s) Randy Faram (m. 2009–present)
Website http://www.laurenpnelson.com/

Lauren Paige Nelson (born November 26, 1986) is a beauty queen from Lawton, Oklahoma who holds the Miss America 2007 title. Nelson is the second consecutive Miss America and sixth in the history of Miss America to hail from this state.[1]

Nelson was Miss Teen Oklahoma 2004, and in this role, she performed at the 2005 Miss America Pageant.[2] En route to Miss America, she won the Miss Oklahoma State Fair local title and then competed in the Miss Oklahoma pageant for the first time on June 11, 2006, and was crowned Miss Oklahoma 2006, for which she received a $16,000 scholarship. At age nineteen, she was the youngest contestant to become Miss Oklahoma.

Nelson went on to represent Oklahoma in the Miss America 2007 pageant broadcast on CMT from the Theatre for the Performing Arts on January 29, 2007. She won a preliminary swimsuit award on Thursday night, becoming her state's first Swimsuit preliminary award since 1955. At the conclusion of the live telecast, Nelson was crowned the 82nd Miss America. She succeeds Jennifer Berry, of Jenks, Oklahoma, in the first occurrence of consecutive winners from the same state since Mississippi won in both 1959 and 1960.

Nelson performing with Jacquelynne Fontaine, Miss California 2006, at a US Army event

A graduate of MacArthur High School, Nelson is a student at the University of Central Oklahoma. She is a member of Centenary United Methodist Church in Lawton, Oklahoma. Her goal is to become a Broadway performer. Her Miss America talent was a vocal performance, and her platform issue is "Be NetSmart – Protecting Kids Online". She received a $50,000 scholarship award along with the title.

Nelson recently teamed up with host John Walsh on the FOX television show America's Most Wanted to assist in the apprehension of potential child predators. Initial reports as of May 1, 2007, stated that she did not plan to return to testify against those predators that were apprehended, putting the prosecution's case in jeopardy.[3] However, she appeared to change her mind later that day, and it is reported that she will testify against the perpetrators.[4]

On January 17, 2008, Nelson appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? playing for the Miss America Organization. She won $175,000 before "dropping out". On August 2, 2010 Nelson joined CBS affiliate KWTV in Oklahoma City as a co-anchor of the station's 4 p.m. newscast, which was reformatted on that date from a traditional newscast to a lifestyle-oriented newscast.

References

  1. Associated Press (January 30, 2007). "Miss Oklahoma Lauren Nelson Wins Miss America 2007 Pageant". FOX News.com.
  2. "Lauren Nelson bio". Miss Oklahoma Pageant Scholarship Funds, Inc. Archived from the original on September 23, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  3. CNN.com. "Miss America may not testify in sex sting cases". Archived from the original on 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2007-05-01.
  4. "Miss America to testify in sex sting".
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Jennifer Berry
Miss America
2007
Succeeded by
Kirsten Haglund
Preceded by
Jennifer Warren
Miss Oklahoma
2006
Succeeded by
Lindsey Miller
Preceded by
Ashley Hobbs
Miss Teen Oklahoma
2004
Succeeded by
Becca Hester
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.