Kelley Johnson

Not to be confused with Kelley Johnson (footballer) or Kelly Johnson.
Kelley Johnson
Beauty pageant titleholder
Born Kelley Johnson
circa 1993 (age 2223)
Fort Collins, Colorado
Education Colorado Mesa University
Grand View University
Title(s) Miss Liberty 2014
Miss Northern Colorado 2015
Miss Colorado 2015
Major
competition(s)
Miss America 2016

Kelley Johnson (born c. 1993)[1] is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Windsor, Colorado, who was crowned Miss Colorado 2015. She competed for the Miss America 2016 title in September 2015 and was named second runner-up for the national title.

Early life and education

Johnson was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, and spent her later childhood in Windsor, Colorado.[2][3] Her mother is Julie Johnson Haffner and her stepfather is Gene Haffner.[3] Johnson also has two older sisters. She is a 2010 graduate of Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins.[2]

Johnson attended Colorado Mesa University from 2010 through 2012. She is a 2015 graduate of Grand View University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and was the valedictorian of her nursing class.[2][4] Johnson is a registered nurse.[3]

Pageant career

Early pageants

On March 30, 2014, while a student at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, Johnson won the Miss Liberty 2014 title.[2][5] She competed as one of 15 finalists in the 2014 Miss Iowa pageant on a platform of "Raising Awareness About the Importance of Early Cancer Detection" and piano playing as her talent.[1][6] She was a top-10 finalist for the statewide title.[7]

Miss Colorado 2015

In November 2014, returning to her home state, Johnson was crowned Miss Northern Colorado 2015 which made her eligible to compete at the Miss Colorado 2015 pageant.[8] She entered the state pageant at Denver's Ellie Caulkins Opera House in June 2015 as one of 26 qualifiers.[2] Johnson's competition talent was a monologue about nursing, inspired by her experiences with a patient with Alzheimer's disease.[4] Her platform is "The Health Initiative PLUS: Prevent, Live, Uncover, Study".[3]

Johnson won the competition on Saturday, June 20, 2015, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Colorado titleholder Stacey Cook.[4] As Miss Colorado, her activities included public appearances across Colorado.[3]

Vying for Miss America

Johnson was Colorado's representative at the Miss America 2016 pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September 2015.[2][8] In the televised finale on September 13, 2015, she performed an original monologue inspired by a patient she encountered as a nurse during the talent portion of the competition.[9] In the interview portion, she was asked what woman should appear on the ten-dollar bill and answered "Ellen Degeneres".[10] Johnson's personal platform was "The Health Initiative PLUS".[9] She was named second runner-up to Betty Cantrell, Miss Georgia 2015, and awarded a $20,000 scholarship prize.[11]

Reactions to Nursing Monologue

On the September 14, 2015 episode of The View, co-hosts Joy Behar and Michelle Collins poked fun at Johnson, a registered nurse, for her Miss America monologue in which she wore a nurse's uniform and stethoscope while speaking about her profession. Their comments sparked a social-media backlash, particularly by nurses, and some advertisers pulled their ads from the show.[12][13]

On September 17, 2015, Johnson appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to discuss her on-stage question and answer, suggesting DeGeneres should be on the ten-dollar bill and her decision to perform a monologue about nursing for her talent. After her interview, Johnson received $10,000 from Shutterfly to help pay for her tuition for nurse anesthetist school.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 Geyer, Thomas (June 9, 2014). "15 women vie for Miss Iowa 2014 crown". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015. Kelley Johnson, 21...
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Harding, Todd (June 21, 2015). "Windsor Resident Crowned Miss Colorado 2015". Windsor, Colorado: KUAD-FM. Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Miller, Nate A. (June 21, 2015). "Windsor woman crowned Miss Colorado, will compete in Miss America". Greeley Tribune. Greeley, Colorado: Swift Communications. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Udell, Erin (June 24, 2015). "Windsor woman crowned Miss Colorado". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  5. Johnson, Kelley (March 30, 2014). "I WON!". Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015 via Twitter.
  6. "State Contestants: Iowa – 2014". Miss America. 2014. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015. Miss Liberty: Kelley Johnson
  7. "2014 Miss Iowa Scholarship Awards". Miss Iowa. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "State Contestants: Colorado – 2015". Miss America. 2015. Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  9. 1 2 "The 2016 Miss America Competition Scholarships & Awards" (Press release). Miss America. September 16, 2015. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  10. Johnson, Zach (September 17, 2015). "Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson Defends "Just a Nurse" Monologue After Joy Behar Mocked Her on The View". E! Online. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  11. "Miss America Show Scholarships 2016". Miss America. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  12. Respers, Lisa (September 16, 2015). "After #NursesUnite, 'View' hosts says comments about nurse misconstrued". CNN. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  13. Bowerman, Mary (September 18, 2015). "Advertisers pull ads from 'The View' following nurse comments". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  14. "Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson addresses her Miss America monologue on Ellen". Entertainment Weekly. September 17, 2015.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Stacey Cook
Miss Colorado
2015
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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