Ashley Elizabeth Durham (born April 9, 1990) is a beauty queen from

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

who won

Miss Tennessee Teen USA The Miss Tennessee Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Tennessee in the Miss Teen USA pageant. The pageant is directed by Greenwood Productions under the ownership of Miss Tennessee USA 1989, Kim ...

2006 and

Miss Tennessee USA The Miss Tennessee USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Tennessee in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant is directed by Greenwood Productions under the ownership of Miss Tennessee USA 1989, Kimberly Pay ...

2011. Durham won the

2006 title in October 2005 representing Adamsville. Her sister titleholder was Lauren Grissom. To win the title, Durham edged out Johnna Disterdick who was the daughter of

Miss Tennessee The Miss Tennessee competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Tennessee in the Miss America Scholarship Competition. Lauren Dickson of Parsons was crowned Miss Tennessee 2022 on June 25, 2022 at the Cannon Cente ...

1982,

1984, Desiree Denise Daniels, and Tucker Perry who would later crown Durham

2011. Durham went on to compete at Miss Teen USA 2006 but failed to place. Five years later Durham won the Miss Tennessee USA 2011 title on her first attempt. She is the fifth Miss Tennessee Teen USA titleholder to win the Miss Tennessee USA pageant, following former Miss USA titleholders

Lynnette Cole Lynnette Marie Cole-O'Nan (née Cole; born February 9, 1978) is an American television personality, actress, and beauty pageant titleholder who won the title Miss Tennessee USA in 2000. She went on to become the first woman from that state to win ...

and

Rachel Smith Rachel Renee Smith (born April 18, 1985) is an American actress, TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the Miss USA 2007 and who previously had competed in the Miss Teen USA 2002 pageant. She represented the United States at Mis ...

who also held both Tennessee titles. Durham's sister titleholder is Kaitlin White, Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2011. Durham ended as 1st runner-up in

Miss USA 2011 Miss USA 2011 was the 60th Anniversary of the Miss USA pageant, held on the Las Vegas Strip at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Paradise, Nevada on Sunday, June 19, 2011. Rima Fakih of Michigan crowned ...

pageant in held in Las Vegas. Her final question dealt with the First Amendment, and whether it should protect burning religious books. There was some controversy after the show was over when pageant judge

Penn Jillette Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American magician, actor, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller as half of the team Penn & Teller. The duo has been featured ...

said about her, "She negated the whole First Amendment," Jillette said in a tweet Sunday night. "Glad to help her lose." "Durham fired back at Jillette in a statement issued Tuesday through state pageant officials, saying she's disappointed with Jillette's reaction. She said it's uncalled for that he would delight in shooting down her dreams." Durham graduated from Adamsville Jr/Sr High School in 2008, where she was a varsity cheerleader. She graduated from the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

in 2012 where she majored in journalism and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

. She also models for

Tony Bowls Tony Bowls (born Arkansas, USA) is a fashion designer and businessman who specializes in formal wear. Early years Tony Bowls was born in England, Arkansas. As a child, he studied dance with Joel Ruminer, and through him became involved as a ...

where she has made many catalogue covers for Tony Bowls and appeared in magazines such as Seventeen, Cosmo, Justine, Hour Detroit, Golf Digest, among others. She is currently signed with

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. Company Ford Models was started in 1946 by Eileen ...

in Miami, Chicago, Wilhelmenia LA and New View Model Management.

Personal life

Durham was introduced to David Booth, a former professional hockey player who played for several teams in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, by Durham's friend and former Miss USA 2011

Alyssa Campanella Alyssa Marie Campanella (born March 21, 1990) is an American model, blogger, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2011. Having previously been crowned Miss California USA 2011, Campanella was the sixth woman representing Calif ...

. In June 2014, the couple married and subsequently both have appeared on the Canadian television show,

Hockey Wives ''Hockey Wives'' is a Canadian Television documentary, documentary television series which debuted on March 18, 2015, on the W Network. In Québec, the series debuted on September 12, 2015, on the :fr:Séries+, Séries+ (''Mariées au hockey''). ...

References

External links

LA Modeling PortfolioMiss Tennessee USA Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durham, Ashley Living people 1990 births University of Memphis alumni 2006 beauty pageant contestants 21st-century Miss Teen USA delegates Miss Tennessee USA winners People from Adamsville, Tennessee Miss USA 2011 delegates