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 stunned the judges at the final interview for the Miss Kansas pageant last month when she said 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 I had found healing from tried 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.”
“All the women in my family were affected by domestic violence,” Smith said in an interview with local Wichita TV station KSN. Smith told 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.
Earlier in the Miss Kansas competition, Smith, an intensive care nurse, won the preliminary rounds for health and strength and talent (Smith performs a ventriloquism routine using two dolls). As state winner, Smith also received more than $15,000 in scholarships.
Smith and the other state winners will compete for the Miss America crown in January.
