Hannah Loewentheil, writing about the worst beauty pageant responses in history said, "Maybe it's the pressure of being under the spotlight or a question catching them off guard, but if beauty pageant contestants are trying to define examples of excellence, some certainly didn't do much to help the cause." Enter Miss Georgia Betty Cantrell, who later in the evening was crowned Miss America 2015. When country music star Brett Eldredge asked Cantrell if she believed Tom Brady cheated in Deflategate, even though Brady's suspension was nullified. Initially she responded, "I'm not sure." She should have left it right there. But then, she went on to say she had to have been there to feel the football herself to make sure it was deflated or not. Are you serious, lady? Then she said, "If there was a question there, then yes, I think he cheated. If there was any question to be had, I think that he definitely cheated and that he should've been suspended for that because that's not fair." The chyron should have popped up saying "clueless." Her answer was met with a huge mixed response on social media. Cantrell's answer, in my opinion, joins a few other doozies that Ms. Loewentheil researched:

At the 2007 Miss USA competition, the 18-year-old contestant from South Carolina was asked why she thinks a fifth of Americans cannot locate their country on a map. "I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uhmmm, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and uh, I believe that our, I, education like such as, uh, South Africa, and uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uhhh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.” Knock knock, is anyone home?

When Miss Arizona, Alicia-Monique Blanco was asked whether or not she believes citizens of the USA should be granted universal access to health care as a benefit of citizenship, she did her best to keep politics out of the question. “I think this is an issue of integrity regardless of which end of the political spectrum that I stand on. I was raised in a family to know right from wrong and politics, whether or not you fall in the middle, the left or the right, it’s an issue of integrity, no matter what your opinion is, and I say that with the utmost conviction.” At least her response was uncontroversial in a political context.

In 2012, Leah Cecil of California made a post-competition blooper that went viral. When asked about her feelings on making euthanasia a legal practice, she responded, "That’s one of the things I’m not educated on so I need to look up on what that means … but I do know that’s a vaccine.”Well, she might have been a bit off the mark, but at least she was honest.

When asked why she is proud to be American, Miss Hawaii contestant, Nadine Tanega, responded with a (not so) shameless plug about her home state. "We are truly the land of the great. From the rocky shores of … Hawaii…to the beautiful sandy beaches of … Hawaii … America is our home," she answered. Was she signed up to be a pageant girl or a Hawaiian tour guide? Maybe both ...

And finally, the answer by 21-year-old Miss Utah contestant, Marissa Powell, in a past Miss America pageant. In response to a question about why the gender gap persists in America, she said, "I think we can relate this back to education ... and how we are continuing to try to strive ... to figure out how to create jobs right now. That is the biggest problem. I think especially the men are seen as the leaders of this and so we need to figure out how to create education better so that we can solve this problem." What??

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