Miss America/AP/File
Alexis Smith was crowned Miss Kansas last month, stunned the crowd and cemented her platform against domestic violence by saying her abuser was in the audience.
CNN
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It takes more than beauty and talent to win a pageant: newly crowned Miss Kansas, Alexis Smith, proves that sometimes it takes courage to win the title.
Smith He surprised the judges in the final interview. She said last month at the Miss Kansas pageant, her abuser was in the audience.
It only reinforced the importance of her platform and “eliminating unhealthy and abusive relationships.”
When asked about her outlook for her term as Miss Kansas, Smith, wearing a sparkly azure dress, kept her cool.
“Some of you in the audience will have seen me getting very emotional because my abuser is here today,” she said.
“But that’s not going to stop me from stepping on the Miss Kansas stage and representing them as the next Miss Kansas,” she continued to receive applause and cheers, “because I and my community deserve to have healthy relationships.”
A month after her win, she gave further details in an Instagram post, saying that on the night of the competition, “someone from whom I have found healing attempted to disrupt my peace.”
“Instead of remaining silent, I chose to live my vision for a better world,” she wrote. “I took my power back — not just for myself, but for my dreams and all those who are watching and listening.”
She added, “I am ready to use my experience, tools and resources to end unhealthy relationships of all kinds.”
In an interview with a local Wichita TV station Kenneth“All the women in my family were affected by domestic violence,” Smith said, telling KSN that her first relationship, which began when she was 14 and lasted until 2018 or 2019, was abusive.
“This is something I’m still experiencing and dealing with,” she told the station. “Domestic violence doesn’t discriminate.”
She said she plans to use her platform to continue speaking out against domestic violence in Kansas and beyond.
CNN has reached out to the Miss America Association for comment.
At the Miss Kansas pageant, Ms. Smith, who is also an ICU nurse, Health and Exercise and talent (Smith performed a ventriloquism routine using two puppets.) As state champion, Smith also received more than $15,000 in scholarship money.
Smith and the other state winners will compete for the Miss America crown in January.
