THE new Miss USA winner has opened up about herself and her win just months after the competition found itself in a heap of chaos and scandal. Alma Cooper, Miss Michigan USA, won the prestigious pageant on Sunday night and shared more about her upbringing and past. Cooper, 22, is from Okemos, Michigan , just outside of the state capitol Lansing, and comes from a unique professional background.
The winner is an Army officer and a data scientist studying for her Master’s degree in statistics at Stanford University. She had graduated from the United States Military Academy West Point with honors. Cooper described her win as "surreal," in a backstage interview with Fox News .
READ MORE ON MISS USA After her huge victory, Cooper shared what thoughts helped her win the contest. “I just thought about my family and the values that I was raised on growing up and just how much that meant to me and all the time it took to even get to this point,” she said. “I’m so grateful.
I can’t express enough gratitude for this moment, for the people who have uplifted me in times where I have been in valleys and to be on this mountain alongside so many other incredible women, I mean this is incredible.” Cooper praised her fellow contestants and shared some of the strong bonds she had formed during the competition. Most read in The US Sun “The women backstage, the women that were on that stage just incredible people, the kindest people,” she added.
“Some of the kindest people I have ever met. “I made bestfriends with Miss Minnesota Muna.” Despite her praise and excitement, Cooper’s win has come in the face of massive controversies surrounding the contest.
Cooper was crowned by Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii , who stepped into the winning role in May after the 2023 winner resigned. Noelia Voigt had ditched her crown and alleged a "toxic work environment," in her resignation letter. Voigt also wrote that she had suffered with “heart palpitations, full body shakes, loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss, loss of sleep, loss of hair, and more.
” Miss Teen USA, had also resigned her title just days of Voigt's shock news, The U.S. Sun has -previously reported.
UmaSofia Srivastava, who had previously been Miss New Jersey Teen USA, said that her personal values no longer align with the direction of the organization, in a statement posted on Instagram. "I am grateful for all the support from my family , my state directors, my sister queens, and the fans who have cheered me on since I won my state title," she wrote. "I will always look back on my time as Miss NJ Teen USA fondly, and the experience of representing my state as a first generation, Mexican-Indian American at the national level was fulfilling in itself.
" Her mother, Barbara Srivastava, shared a heartbreaking thought about the winners at the time. “The job of their dreams turned out to be a nightmare,” she said. Read More on The US Sun “We could not continue this charade.
The girls decided to step down and give (up) their dream of a lifetime — a crown, a national title." This had been the first time in the show's history that the winners of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA suddenly give up their crowns..
