Less than an hour after Arkansas’ Savvy Shields was crowned Miss America, she had some advice for the presidential candidates.
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When she took the stage during the question portion of the night and was asked what she thought of Hillary Clinton, Shields said, “If you’re trying to be leader of the free world, everything you do and say matters…”
She noted that the media has sensationalized the campaign so that it was “hard to tell what is truth and scandal”, then added that “both these candidates have done a great job, but they also need to watch what they’re doing”. “I want to hopefully work in a museum and teach at a collegiate level”, she said.
ABC reports that O’Flaherty is the first Miss America contestant to win a title after coming out.
Shields “aims to educate people on how the foods we eat really make an impact on our lives as a whole, “according to the Miss Arkansas website”.
The second runner-up was Miss New York, Camille Sims, and the first runner-up was Miss South Carolina, Rachel Wyatt. She’d competed at the Miss Arkansas pageant as Miss University of Arkansas and was named first runner up. Host Chris Harrison was joined by co-host Sage Steele and celebrity judges Ciara, Mark Cuban, Gabby Douglas, Sara Foster, Laura Marano, Cole Swindell and Miss America 1985 Sharlene Wells Hawkes.
Expanding on her comments about the political climate after the ceremony, Shields said, “Our country was founded on compromise. I feel like that’s every dancer’s secret dream is to be a backup dancer for Beyoncé, especially with her new tour”.
For the talent portion of the contest Shields performed a jazz dance to a song from the TV series “Smash“.
The rest of the top 15 finalists came from California, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
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The Miss America Pageant was held at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.
