| Intro | South African filmmaker |
| Is |
Filmmaker Artist Visual artist |
| From | South Africa |
| Type |
Arts Creativity Film, TV, Stage & Radio |
| Gender | female |
| Residence | Cape Town, South Africa |
Sarah Rose Summers (born November 4, 1994) is an American model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2018. As Miss USA, she represented the United States at Miss Universe 2018, where she placed in the top twenty. Previously, Summers was crowned Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2012 and Miss Nebraska USA 2018, becoming the first woman from Nebraska to win Miss USA.
Life and career
Early life
Summers was born on November 4, 1994, in Omaha, Nebraska, and grew up in Papillion in the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area. At four years old, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). She graduated from Papillion-La Vista South High School, and later earned two degrees cum laude from Texas Christian University in child development and strategic communication, with a minor in business. Summers worked as a certified child life specialist prior to becoming Miss USA.
Pageantry
Summers began her pageantry career at age ten, after she convinced her parents to allow her to compete in pageants when they received a postcard advertisement for a local child beauty pageant. After four years of competing, Summers won the title of National American Miss Nebraska Junior Teen 2009. She went on to represent Nebraska at the national pageant and was crowned the 2009–2010 National American Miss Junior Teen. In 2012, Summers was crowned Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2012. She went on to represent Nebraska at Miss Teen USA 2012 at Atlantis Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas, but was unplaced. At the end of her reign, she crowned Jasmine Fuelberth as her successor. After a hiatus, Summers returned to pageantry and competed in Miss Nebraska USA 2016, where she placed as the second runner-up, losing to Sarah Hollins.
In 2018, Summers was crowned Miss Nebraska USA 2018 by Fuelberth, who was the outgoing titleholder. At Miss Nebraska USA 2018, Summers represented Omaha.
Miss USA 2018
After winning Miss Nebraska USA, Summers earned the right to represent Nebraska at Miss USA 2018, held at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. She went on to win the competition, beating out first runner-up Caelynn Miller-Keyes of North Carolina and second runner-up Carolina Urrea of Nevada, becoming the first woman from Nebraska and the eleventh former Miss Teen USA contestant to win Miss USA. After winning Miss USA, she crowned Bree Coffey as her Miss Nebraska USA successor; pageant protocol states that the two titles cannot be held coterminously as her new Miss USA duties would have interfered with her duties as Miss Nebraska USA.
At the national competition, co-host Vanessa Lachey asked the following: “You are on your way to a march where someone hands you a blank sign and a marker. What do you put on your sign and why?”:
…I say ‘Speak your voice’. I don’t know what march we’re on our way to in this hypothetical situation, but no matter where you’re going, whatever type of march it is, you’re obviously on your way to that march because you care about that cause so go speak to people. When they have questions, communicate with them. Listen to their views also. That is one thing in the United States that we really need to focus on is listening to each other! …
As Miss USA 2018, Summers represented the United States at Miss Universe 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand, where she placed in the top twenty. The eventual winner was Catriona Gray of the Philippines. Summers ended her reign on May 2, 2019, after crowning Cheslie Kryst as Miss USA 2019 in Reno, Nevada.
Personal life
Summers became engaged to longtime boyfriend Conner Combs in Bangkok on December 17, 2018, shortly after competing at Miss Universe 2018. They married on October 20, 2019 in Anthem, Arizona.