Christie Lee Woods (born October 21, 1977) is an American model and actress who, in 1996, was the first Texan to capture the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the M ...

crown. Woods first came to prominence as a beauty queen, winning the titles of

Miss Texas Teen USA The Miss Texas Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Texas in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant is part of the Miss USA organization, owned by Texas native Crystle Stewart, who was Miss U ...

and Miss Teen USA 1996. She later appeared as an actress and as a participant on

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

show, ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

''.

Pageants

Miss Teen USA 1996

Woods won the Miss Houston Teen USA title in 1995, then competed in Miss Texas Teen USA 1996, winning the title. She represented Texas in the 1996

pageant broadcast live from

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; "the crosses") is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the seat of Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 census the population was 111,385. Las Cruces is the largest city in both Doña Ana County and southern Ne ...

in August 1996, and became the first woman from her state to win the

title. As Miss Teen USA, her sister titleholders were,

Alicia Machado Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo (; born December 6, 1976) is a Venezuelan-American actress, TV host, singer and beauty queen who was Miss Venezuela 1995 and then Miss Universe 1996. She was the fourth woman from Venezuela to be named Miss Univer ...

Miss Universe 1996 Miss Universe 1996, the 45th Miss Universe pageant, was held on May 17, 1996 at Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Alicia Machado of Venezuela was crowned by Chelsi Smith from the United States at the e ...

, of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and

Ali Landry Ali Germaine Landry (born July 21, 1973) is an American actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1996. She played Rita Lefleur on the UPN sitcom '' Eve'' and was the Doritos Girl in a 1998 Super Bowl commercial. In 1998, ...

, Miss USA 1996, of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. She also reigned alongside

Brook Lee Brook Antoinette Mahealani Lee (born January 8, 1971) is an American former beauty queen who was crowned Miss Hawaii USA 1997, Miss USA 1997, and Miss Universe 1997. Lee is the first native Hawaiian to win the title of Miss Universe. Early lif ...

, who briefly held the title of Miss USA 1997 before winning the 1997

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

pageant; and Miss Teen USA 1989 and 1st runner-up to Miss USA 1997, Brandi Sherwood, who succeeded Lee as Miss USA. During her reign, Woods traveled extensively throughout the United States and made appearances for charity, giving up her title in August 1997, when she crowned Shelly Moore of

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 ...

as Miss Teen USA 1997 in her home state,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Miss Texas USA 2002

In 2001, Woods returned to pageantry and competed in the Miss Texas USA 2002 pageant as Miss Central Texas. She was one of six former Miss Texas Teen USA titleholders to participate in the event. Woods won the swimsuit, interview, and Miss Photogenic awards, but only placed third runner-up. This was the first time that a former Miss Teen USA titleholder did not win a

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, ...

state pageant on their first try. Woods' successor to the Miss Texas Teen USA title,

Andria Mullins The Miss Texas Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Texas in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant is part of the Miss USA organization, owned by Texas native Crystle Stewart, who was Miss U ...

, also lost and placed second runner-up to eventual winner, Miss Dallas Fort Worth,

Kasi Kelly Kasi Laine Kelly (born October 1, 1981) is a beauty queen from Bridgeport, Texas who has competed in the Miss USA pageant. She was born to Wiley and Toni Harkins Kelly. She has one sister named Kristi. Kelly won the Miss Texas USA The Mis ...

, who was not even a former

Miss Texas USA 2003

The following year, Woods tried and won the Miss Houston USA title, gaining the right to compete at Miss Texas USA 2003 and once again failed to win the crown, only placing as one of the semifinalists alongside Mullins, who also competed, but was not crowned either. This time Woods' predecessor to the Miss Texas Teen USA crown, Mandy Jeffreys, matched Woods' 2002 placement as third runner-up, only to lose to Nicole O'Brian, Miss Texas Teen USA 2000, who could not capture the Miss Teen USA 2000 or Miss USA 2003 crowns.

Miss Texas USA 2004

Woods competed for the third time in Miss Texas USA 2004, and again only placed in the semifinals. This was her last attempt at the title, because of age restrictions imposed on contestants. Woods would represent the changing times, where none of the former

titleholders would win a

state crown. Jamie Solinger of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

(3rd runner-up to Mrs. America 2005) and

Shauna Gambill Shauna Gambill (born 22 September 1976) is a beauty queen from Acton, California who has held the Miss Teen USA title and competed in the Miss USA and Miss World pageants. Gambill first won the Miss California Teen USA title in late 1993. In ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

(first runner-up to Miss USA 1998 and Top 10 at Miss World 1998) would be the last in 1998.

Television

Acting

Woods played Rowena in the TV series ''

The New Adventures of Robin Hood ''The New Adventures of Robin Hood'' is an action adventure television series that premiered on January 13, 1997, on TNT. The show was based on the legend of Robin Hood, the English folk hero, and was filmed in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was produce ...

'' in the late 1990s. She also had guest appearances on ''

Malibu, CA Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

'' (1998) and ''

USA High ''USA High'' is an American teen sitcom that ran on USA from August 1997 to June 1999, ending after 95 episodes. The series revolves around six friends enrolled at the American Academy boarding school in Paris, France. Background Information '' ...

'' (1998).

''The Amazing Race''

Woods appeared with her then boyfriend, now life partner, Colin Guinn on ''

The Amazing Race 5 ''The Amazing Race 5'' is the fifth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on July 6, 2004, and concluded on September 21, 2004 ...

'' and placed second. Woods and Guinn were also expecting to be in the All-Star edition of the show; however, Woods was expecting the couple's first child and therefore could not participate. In 2019, Woods and Guinn competed on and won '' The Amazing Race 31''.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Christie Lee 1977 births American television actresses Living people Miss Teen USA winners 1996 beauty pageant contestants 20th-century Miss Teen USA delegates The Amazing Race (American TV series) contestants People from Huntsville, Texas Reality show winners