Tara Elizabeth
Conner (born on 18 December 1985 in Dallas, Texas) is a
beauty queen who is Miss USA 2006 and has also competed
in the Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe pageants. Apart
from her role as Miss USA, Conner has been employed as a
model and waitress. She was a featured model on the
HDNet series Bikini Destinations in 2004, posing for the
cameras in Lake Tahoe. She has held the titles Miss
Kentucky Teen USA 2002, Miss Kentucky USA 2006 and Miss
USA 2006.
In late 2006, Conner became the center of a public
scandal when news reports claim she had been drinking
underage, tested positive for the use of cocaine, and
kissed Miss Teen USA Katie Blair in public, among other
things. She was allowed to retain her title and entered
a drug rehabilitation program.
Early life: After she was born in Dallas, Texas,
Conner's family moved to Russell Springs, Kentucky when
she was six weeks old. Conner graduated from Russell
County High School in 2004 and at the time of her Miss
USA win was studying toward a degree in Business
Administration from Somerset Community College.
Following her success in the Miss Teen USA pageant
Conner was managed by agent Steve Rosenberg for six
months and has modelled for companies such as Body
Glove.
In an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show airing
February 1st, 2007, she hinted at child abuse. "I
will not deny that I have witnessed some abuse, but out
of respect for my family ... it's something I would like
to speak with my family about first," she stated.
Miss Teen USA: Conner's first pageant experience
came in 2001 when she won the Miss Kentucky Teen USA
title. In August 2002, she went on to compete in the
Miss Teen USA pageant held in South Padre Island, Texas.
After making the first cut, Conner achieved the highest
swimsuit score (9.18) among the 10 semi-finalists and
had the fifth highest evening gown score (8.79). The
average of these two scores placed her second overall
after these two phases of competition. She eventually
placed second runner-up to Vanessa Semrow of Wisconsin.
Conner's placement equaled that of Kristen Johnson as
the second highest by any delegate representing Kentucky
at the pageant.
Miss Kentucky USA: Conner returned to pageantry
in November 2005 when she won the Miss Kentucky USA
crown, and was crowned by former Miss Kentucky Teen USA
2000 and Miss Kentucky USA 2005 Kristen Johnson. She was
the third former teen titleholder to win the Miss
Kentucky USA title, others being Johnson and Elizabeth
Arnold, who held the teen title in 1998 and was Conner's
sister titleholder as Miss Kentucky USA 2002.
In March, while still Miss Kentucky USA, Conner traveled
to Los Angeles to tape a special episode of Deal or No
Deal which featured twenty five of the Miss USA 2006
delegates and reigning queen Chelsea Cooley. The special
aired in April 2006.
Miss USA: Conner represented Kentucky during the
nationally televised Miss USA 2006 pageant in Baltimore,
Maryland on 21 April 2006. Making the semi-finals, she
became the eighteenth woman to place at both Miss Teen
USA and Miss USA. She competed in the official BSC
Swimwear Thailand for the swimsuit competition and made
the top ten, where she competed in the evening gown
competition, wearing a specially designed gown by Sherri
Hill. Conner then made the top five and completed the
final interview round.
Prior to the announcement of the winner, Conner and her
eventual first runner-up Tamiko Nash shared a long
embrace, whilst Conner whispered to Nash. An E! special
later revealed that Conner, believing Nash had won, was
wishing her luck for her reign as Miss USA and her
participation at Miss Universe. The traditional
statement read before the announcement of the new
titleholder, which declare that "if, for any reason
the new titleholder cannot fulfill her reign, the first
runner-up will take over", later become pertinent
following the scandal surrounding Conner in December.
Conner eventually won the Miss USA title, the first
woman from Kentucky to do so. She was crowned by
previous titleholder Chelsea Cooley, from North
Carolina. Conner was the fourth former Miss Teen USA
state titleholder to win the Miss USA crown since 2000,
one of whom was Cooley, who was Miss North Carolina Teen
USA 2000.
Miss Universe: Conner represented the United
States at the Miss Universe 2006 pageant in Los Angeles,
California in July 2006. Her roommate during the three
weeks the delegates spent in Los Angeles was Kenisha
Thom of Trinidad and Tobago
Conner made the initial cut of twenty delegates and went
on to compete in the swimsuit competition, and as a
member of the top ten, competed in evening gown, wearing
a dress designed on reality television show Project
Runway. After making the top five and competiting in a
final interview round, Conner was announced as the
fourth runner-up to new Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera of
Puerto Rico. Conner is only the fifth Miss USA to finish
fourth runner-up at Miss Universe.
Year in the life of Miss USA: Immediately after
winning the pageant, Conner moved into a Trump Place
apartment that she will share with sister titleholders
Zuleyka Rivera (Miss Universe 2006) and Katie Blair
(Miss Teen USA 2006) during her reign. Her first week in
New York included many media events, which included
print interviews and spots on CNN Headline News, Live!
With Regis and Kelly, and The Early Show.
On April 29 Conner returned to pageant host city
Baltimore to make appearances connected with the Volvo
Ocean Race, sailing on board the yacht Black Pearl. and
then returned to New York, appearing with Miss Universe
2005 Natalie Glebova at the Invest in Our World Benefit
on May 3.
In the first week of May she briefly returned to
Kentucky for the Kentucky Derby and was a celebrity
guest at the Mint Jubilee Gala, attending the event with
fellow national beauty queen Jennifer Berry, Miss
America 2006 (of Oklahoma) and former Miss Kentucky USA
titleholders Lizzie Arnold and Kristen Johnson, as well
as other notable beauty queens. After returning to New
York, Conner participated in charity events and was
participated in a photo shoot with official photographer
Fadil Berisha.
On 18 May 2006, Conner rang the opening bell at the
American Stock Exchange. She returned to Kentucky for
her official homecoming in early June 2006. where she
met with servicemen, with whom she posed for the July
2006 cover of Kentucky Monthly magazine, and volunteered
with local charities.
On 19 July 2006, Conner appeared as a guest judge in an
episode of the third season of the Bravo! series Project
Runway. The contestants on the show competed against
each other to create a dress for her to wear in the Miss
Universe pageant. The dress was later featured in the
evening gown competition of the pageant.
In August 2006, Conner met newly crowned Miss Universe
Zuleyka Rivera and outgoing Miss Teen USA Allie LaForce
in California where they were involved with media
events, before all three travelled to Palm Springs,
California for the Miss Teen USA 2006 pageant. On August
15 LaForce crowned Katie Blair of Montana as the new
Miss Teen USA, and Conner, Rivera and Blair returned to
New York the day after the pageant. Later that month,
Conner and Blair attended a number of high-profile
parties in New York including a Land Rover event
featuring Maria Sharapova, a U.S. Open Kick-Off Party, a
pre-Video Music Awards party hosted by Ciara and Missy
Elliot and another Video Music Awards party hosted by
Nick Lachey.
In September 2006, Conner travelled to Boston,
Massachusetts to promote the Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure, as her predecessor
Chelsea Cooley had done the year previously. She then
travelled to Colorado to support the Cheryl Shackelford
Foundation and to Pennsylvania to attend an event hosted
by the USO of Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. In
October 2006, Conner spent time volunteering with more
charities, including Gilda's Club, Best Buddies, and
Project Sunshine, before embarking on a USO tour to
Italy and Turkey in November 2006, where she met her
brother, who is living in Italy.
During Thanksgiving weekend of November 2006, Conner
appeared on the Showboat float in the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade, becoming the fourth Miss USA to
appear in the parade. After attending the Miss Kentucky
USA 2007 pageant and crowning Michelle Banzer as
successor to her state title, she and Rivera travelled
to Cannes, France and Italy where they made promotional
appearances.
In December, Conner should have celebrated her 21st
birthday with a special event held at Pure nightclub at
Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip near Las Vegas,
Nevada but the event was later cancelled because of the
scandal.
Following her time in a rehabilitation center in
Pennsylvania during December and January, Conner
returned to the public stage in February and was
interviewed by a number of news outlets. She made her
first public appearance on February 4, 2007 when she,
Katie Blair and Zuleyka Rivera appeared as models for
Tadashi, a sponsor of the pageant, at a fashion show in
New York City.
Controversy: On December 14 2006, controversy
erupted when TMZ.com published an article stating that
Conner might be dethroned for her behavior in several
New York City bars. The following day the website
reported that Conner would be stripped of her crown, and
that first runner-up Tamiko Nash, who completed her
reign as Miss California USA October, would inherit the
Miss USA title. This was neither confirmed nor denied by
the Miss Universe Organization.
The 16 December 2006 edition of the New York Daily News
reported Conner had tested positive for cocaine, had
kissed Miss Teen USA Katie Blair in public, and had
sneaked men into their Trump Place apartment. One New
York City nightlife veteran said "She really is a
small-town girl. She just went wild when she came to the
city. Tara just couldn't handle herself. They were
sneaking those nightclub guys in and out of the
apartment." According to Fox News, citing local New
York newspapers, Conner "moved out of her apartment
in one of Trump's luxury buildings on Manhattan's Upper
West Side" sometime during the week of 11 December
2006.
On 19 December 2006, Trump held a press conference
saying that Conner was not dethroned as Miss USA.
"I've always been a believer in second
chances," Trump said. Had Conner been dethroned,
she would have been the first Miss USA to have her title
removed since Mary Leona Gage in 1957. It was also
announced that Conner would be entering the Caron
Foundation, an alcoholism rehabilitation facility in
Pennsylvania. During the press conference Conner
declined to comment on allegations of illicit drug use
and claimed she was not an alcoholic but acknowledged
making serious mistakes.
After coming out of rehab less than two months later in
February 2007, Conner admitted in an interview with Matt
Lauer that she had abused cocaine and anti-depressants.
Conner says that she had faced her "demons"
and hinted her problems may have stemmed from some
unspecified abuse during her childhood with someone she
recently confronted. She would not comment on whether
this abuse was sexual. "I will not deny that I have
witnessed some abuse, but out of respect for my family
... it's something I would like to speak with my family
about first," Conner told NBC television's
"Today" show. "Later on, maybe I'll feel
more comfortable about speaking on these topics, but
right now not so much." She also participated in an
interview on Larry King Live.
Two days after Conner was allowed to keep her title,
Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees was fired after racy photos
surfaced of her kissing other young women, exposing one
of her breasts, simulating oral sex, and pulling down
her pants to show her thong underwear at a party in
Tampa, Florida. Rees later claimed that she was unfairly
treated by Donald Trump and that she should have
received a second chance like Conner.
In January 2007, Access Hollywood reported that Donald
Trump was considering an offer from Playboy to have
Conner appear on the cover of the magazine, although the
idea was later dropped. It was later announced that
Conner had been cast as Roxie Hart in the Broadway
musical Chicago, although this was also dropped as the
director believed that Conner was not up to the demands
of the role.
On April 1st 2007 she attended WWE's Wrestlemania 23 in
Detroit, Michigan. In the Hair vs. Hair Match she came
down to the ring as the attendant of Donald Trump.
Tara
Conner Profile,
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