National

Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas will join the judges panel for the Miss America 2017competition, the organization announced exclusively to USA TODAY Monday. Fresh from a winning performance with the Final Five women of the U.S. Olympics gymnastics team in Rio, Douglas will head to Atlantic City for the final round of competition, which will be […]

Entertainment

Despite his ceremony-ending mistake that named the wrong woman Miss Universe on Sunday, Steve Harvey is “absolutely” welcome back to host the 2016 pageant, says an executive with the company that produces the event. Mark Shapiro, chief content officer for WME | IMG who was backstage at the pageant, made the comments on Jim Rome’s […]

National

  The executive chairman of the Miss America pageant has apologized to Vanessa Williams for the way the pageant’s predecessors handled a nude photo flap involving her in 1984. Sam Haskell apologized to Vanessa Williams during Sunday night’s nationally televised Miss America pageant for the way his predecessors handled the controversy involving nude photos of […]

National

JOHN PARRA/GETTY IMAGES Three decades after she gave up the crown amid a nude photo scandal, Vanessa Williams is returning to the Miss America pageant. The Miss America Organization, Dick Clark Productions and the ABC television network announced Tuesday they are bringing back the award-winning actress and singer to serve as head judge for the […]