As millions watched on Sunday evening, the new Miss USA was officially crowned. Olivia Culpo of Rhode Island managed to beat out her 50 other competitors by stunning judges with her charm, enchanting looks and bubbly personality.
The new Miss USA is an Italian beauty who comes from a big family, and says she spent her summers at band camp where she played the cello for nearly 13 years.
Culpo’s deep love of music, that’s also shared by her parents, led her to perform at Symphony Hall in Boston and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Culpo admitted that she wasn’t always the beauty queen type and that as a child she was a bit on the chubby side. Although she naturally blossomed after a growth spurt later in life, she credits her now-toned 5-foot-7 physique to much discipline and dedication to her diet and fitness regimen.
Of her exercise routine, Culpo told Karma Loop in a recent interview that she works out six days a week – three days are set aside for some kind of resistance training, and the other three involve some kind of cardio. “Resistance is basic lifting weights, for cardio I’ll do running or Zumba,” she said. And as for her diet, Culpo touts the benefits of eating small, healthy meals every 2-3 hours, and also stays away from liquid calories to avoid weight gain. “Juice is killer. The sugar will go straight to your butt!” she said.
A high point during the pageant for the Rhode Island beauty was when she voiced her support for transgender beauty queens in the make-or-break interview round. When asked if it would be fair for a transgender woman to win the Miss USA crown, Culpo answered yes.
“I do think that that would be fair, but I can understand that people would be a little apprehensive to take that road because there is a tradition of natural-born women,” she said. “But today where there are so many surgeries and so many people out there who have a need to change for a happier life, I do accept that because I believe it’s a free country.”
Of her win, Culpo said, “I was just so surprised, so shocked, so honored to be here.” With the new title under her belt, the beauty queen plans to take a year off from her studies to perform her duties as Miss USA, which includes representing the U.S. in the upcoming 61st Miss Universe pageant this December.
Culpo is a 2024 graduate of St. Mary Academy Bay View, an all-girls Catholic school in Riverside, where she performed well enough academically to be a member of the National Honor Society. The beauty queen also selected her major as communications at Boston University, and says she wants to pursue a career in broadcasting – preferably something in front of the camera, naturally.
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photos via Miss Universe and Associated Press