12 Celebrities Who Got Their Start As Beauty Queens (or Kings)
1/26/2025
“I never thought I would win! I was shocked when they crowned me.”
Before they were major stars, some celebrities got their start on a different kind of stage. There are quite a few famous faces who began their career competing in beauty pageants. While some of these celebs did so on a smaller scale, taking part in local contests for kids, others made it to the big leagues. Celebs like Priyanka Chopra and Gal Gadot actually made it all the way to representing their home countries on a global scale. Although not all of these celebrities ended up taking home major titles, they did pivot their goals to become big stars in Hollywood.
Priyanka Chopra
When Priyanka Chopra was a teenager, her mother submitted her to the Miss India pageant committee. While Priyanka wasn’t a big fan of the “soft-focus pictures,” it clearly impressed the judges and she was invited to compete. She ended up winning the entire contest and then went on to win Miss World in 2000. It helped launch a successful career in Bollywood before she broke into the American film industry. As for how she feels about pageants now, Priyanka says she still supports them -- as long as women know it’s not their only option for success.
“I feel like in an evolved world, where we are today, as long as a woman understands that that;s not [her] only option. And then chooses to do it. Who is anyone to judge her?” she told Vogue India. “But when women are made to feel like your only option to succeed is to be okay with being objectified or being made to feel stupid...then it's wrong.”
Eva Longoria
When Eva Longoria was still a student, she was struggling to pay her tuition for her senior year at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. A friend suggested that she enter a scholarship pageant and in the hopes of winning a cash prize, Eva agreed -- and ended up winning the whole thing. She then moved on to the next competition and eventually became Miss Corpus Christi in 1998. And because she won, she was then entered into a talent contest which ended up being her ticket to Hollywood.
“But, in my prize package for Miss Corpus Christi, was a trip to Los Angeles. And, I just thought, ‘Oh, that’ll be fun,’” she said in an interview for The Academy. “I didn’t think, ‘I’m going to be an act[ress]… and when I went into the talent competition, I won everything. And, all these managers and agents wanted to sign me. It was 1998, which is like Ricky [Martin] mania, J-Lo mania. And, to be Latina in the industry in that moment, a lot of doors were opening.”