Miss Kansas is the first pageant contestant to showcase her tattoos for the Miss America competition and is proud to be different. INSIDE EDITION spoke to her as she preps for the big pageant.
You've never seen a Miss America contestant like this. She's got tattoos, and they're huge.
Miss Kansas Theresa Vail is the first ever pageant contestant to show her tattoos during the competition.
She told INSIDE EDITION, “The stereotype is, girls with tattoos don't win. The barrier is, no one shows their tattoos on stage. So, I said, 'Watch me do it.'”
It turns out lots of the girls this year, and in past years, had tattoos.
She said, “About 50% of the girls here have tattoos, they just cover them.”
Vail's tattoos are the serenity prayer on her right side. "It's my personal mission statement for life, accepting the things I cannot change and the courage to change the things I can,” she said.
Vail also has a tattoo of the U..S Army Dental Corps on her shoulder.
Miss Kansas’ tattoos are the entire buzz at this weekend’s pageant. Even the reigning Miss America, Mallory Hagan, is talking about it.
Hagan said, “She's true to herself, she has a tattoo. I have a tattoo as well I chose to cover it up last year in my evening gown. But I haven't covered it up since then so I think it's great. It shows the Miss America pageant is evolving."
This year's pageant is back in Atlantic City after six years in Las Vegas and all eyes will surely be on the first uncovered tattoos in the pageant's history.
