Mallory Hytes Hagan Stramara (born December 23, 1988) is an American former news anchor and beauty queen.
Following her win, she graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a communications degree, returned to Alabama in 2016 and worked for WLTZ as news anchor and reporter between 2016 and 2018.
[12][13] Hagan had lived in six different Brooklyn neighborhoods between her arrival in 2008 and her Miss America victory in 2013,[5] including Sunset Park and Williamsburg.
In 2008 she made her only appearance in the Miss Alabama competition and won a non-finalist talent award and a scholarship, while studying at Auburn University, before she left her home for New York in the same year.
[7][5] In New York Hagan first participated in the Miss Brooklyn 2010 pageant, wishing to win scholarship money for her education, and to her own surprise won the competition.
[10] Her contest bio stated that "Hagan has chosen to honor the women in her family who have been victims of sexual abuse by sharing their personal stories and encouraging others to take a stand.
[21] Hagan's introductory quip to the Miss America 2013 audience on January 12, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the beginning of the on-air broadcast was "Sandy may have swept away our shores but never our spirit.
"[12] Other elements of her winning wardrobe included a black string bikini and an asymmetric white evening gown by Juan Carloa Pinera.
[25] Due to the decision to move the pageant back to Atlantic City, New Jersey, her reign was cut short by four months and ended on September 15, 2013.
[27] During her year, she lobbied with the National Children's Alliance to restore funding in the 2014 budget for Child Advocacy Centers across America, which she later said that she was "incredibly proud of".
In December 2017, the Huffington Post[28] revealed that the pageant CEO Sam Haskell had sent a series of emails degrading former Miss Americas, including Hagan for her body weight.
When she moved to New York, Hagan first worked there for a few years, before using the scholarship money she had won since 2010 to enroll at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where she earned a degree in Advertising, Marketing and Communications.
[19] Hagan was endorsed by the Alabama New South Alliance, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, End Citizens United, Lilly Ledbetter, and received a "Gun Sense Candidate" distinction from Moms Demand Action.
[37] While Hagan had explained in a 2013 interview as Miss America that she could not imagine to ever go into politics,[26] she now said after her candidacy that "running for office [was] the thing [she was] the single most proud of".