Stephanie Murray Smith Waltrip (born August 1987) is an American television personality, make-up artist, hairstylist, and

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

titleholder from the United States who was crowned

Miss South Carolina USA The Miss South Carolina USA competition, previously known as Miss South Carolina Universe, is the pageant that selects the representative for the state South Carolina in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The ...

and placed in the Top 10 at

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

. In 2010, she competed on ''

The Amazing Race 17 ''The Amazing Race 17'' is the seventeenth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on September 26, 2010, with a speci ...

'' with then boyfriend Chad Waltrip and finished fifth. He proposed to her while on the Race. They were married later in 2010 after the Race.

Early life

Born in Charleston to Randy Smith of Summerville and Luanne Marie Bass-Smith of Goose Creek, Smith is the oldest of four children, growing up in Goose Creek with younger brothers Nicholas Andrew, Jackson Ryan; and little sister Maggie Louise. A nationally ranked swimmer, Smith graduated from Stratford High School in 2005 and studied

cosmetology Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , '' -logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/ pedicures, non-permanent hair removal such ...

at Charleston Institute of Cosmetology. She would work with photographer Michael Petry, assisting him with make-up and hairstyling, and was pursuing a career in hospitality and tourism at

Trident Technical College Trident Technical College (TTC) is a public community college with its main campus in Charleston, South Carolina and other campuses throughout Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. It is part of the South Carolina Technical College System ...

prior to her winning

Miss South Carolina USA

Smith's first foray into pageantry came in 2004 while she was a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

in high school, when a local pageant director asked her to participate in ''Miss Teen Charleston USA'', a title she would win. At the next level, Smith realized she needed to learn more in order to win a state title and took this experience as a stepping stone to her future participation in pageants. Two years later, in 2006, Smith participated as ''Miss Charleston USA'' in

and placed fourth runner-up. Feeling close to the crown, Smith competed in 2007, this time as ''Miss Summerville USA'', and again finished fourth runner-up. A year later, in November 2008, Smith won the title of

, gaining the right to represent her

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Miss USA 2009 Miss USA 2009 was the 58th Miss USA pageant, held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Kristen Dalton of North C ...

. As the official representative of

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Smith participated in local events and competed in the 2009

pageant, broadcast live from

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

on April 19, 2009, where she placed as one of the Top 10 finalists.

The Amazing Race

In 2010, Smith competed in ''

'' with then-boyfriend Chad Walthrip.(26 September 2010)
Getting to know the Fort Lauderdale couple on CBS' 'The Amazing Race'
''Sun Sentinel'' The show premiered on September 26. Their worst placement was an eighth-place finish in Leg 1 and their best was a first-place finish in Leg 8. While on the race, Waltrip surprised Smith when he proposed her to marry him and she accepted. In Leg 9, they finished in fifth place and were eliminated. She later moved to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

and became a co-owner of a hair salon.Meet Visit Jax Ambassador: Stephanie Waltrip
visitjacksonville.com, Retrieved 27 September 2022

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stephanie Murray 1987 births Living people People from Charleston, South Carolina Miss USA 2009 delegates The Amazing Race (American TV series) contestants