Betty Cantrell is the first ever Miss Georgia to dominate the Miss America pageant and take home the crown in more than 60 years. Cantrell, 21, was crowned Miss America 2016 during the Sunday night competition, and here's five things you need to know about the new reigning queen.
1. She started performing in pageants in 2013 and doesn't consider herself a "pageant girl."
Cantrell admitted that she didn't think she was cut out for pageants, but she got hooked during her first competition, the Miss Warner Robins Pageants.
"I had never actually thought about it, because I just didn't think I was a pageant girl. I decided to compete in the Miss Warner Robins Pageant last year and had absolutely no clue what I was doing, but I knew that I loved it and wanted to compete again," Cantrell told blog Four Points Pageants.
2. She sang an opera song called "Tu Tu Piccolo Iddio" and hopes to make it on Broadway.
Cantrell's performance of the opera song "Tu Tu Piccolo Iddio" from "Madame Butterfly" won her a talent award, NJ.com reported. She said she hopes to take her talent to the stages of Broadway someday, where she feels the most at home.
"When I sing I want the audience, not just the judges, to feel the emotion. I want to make them feel something," Cantrell told local paper the Ledger-Enquirer.
3. Her pageant platform is healthy living.
Cantrell wants to devote her time as Miss America to promote healthy exercise and eating choices, especially for children in America.
"I was brought up in a household where being healthy and nutrition conscious and exercising was pretty much everything," she told local paper the Telegraph. "I wanted to carry that out to those children who didn't grow up in a home like I did."
4. She answered her "Deflategate" question with honesty.
Cantrell almost fumbled her question about the NFL's New England Patriots controversy that alleged the team used deflated footballs in order to secure a spot at the 2015 Super Bowl. She answered the question honestly, and although she stumbled, she took it all with grace.
"It was kind of a funky question to ask me if Tom Brady cheated. I'm not a football player and I really wasn't there to feel that ball," Cantrell clarified her stance to the Associated Press. "If there was any question as to whether or not he cheated and somebody else felt the ball and decided that it was deflated, then yes, I guess he did cheat."
5. Miss America is only her fourth-ever pageant win.
Cantrell won the Miss Presidential Pathways in 2014, Miss Warner Robins in 2015 and then Miss Georgia in 2015, according to Celebrity Inside. She stands at 5-feet-7-inches, weighs 119 pounds and boasts a 32C bra size.
