'I made that dream a reality,' says Miss Kentucky Elle Smith, who was crowned Miss USA in 2021.

A new Miss USA has been crowned.

Miss Kentucky is a young lady from Kentucky. Miss USA 2021 was awarded to Elle Smith, a broadcast news reporter for WHAS-TV in Louisville, at the annual pageant held Monday night at the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Smith remarked on her path from Miss USA spectator to competitor before to the event.

In an Instagram post from Nov. 14, she wrote, "A little over a year ago, I sat in bed and watched Miss USA." "I remember thinking to myself, "I want to be on that stage," as I saw (Miss New York Andreia Gibau), (Miss Ohio Sthephanie Marie Miranda), (Miss Louisiana Mariah Clayton), and so many other great ladies on the stage. 'I wish I could be like them.' It's incredible to think that this is my official Miss USA picture and that I was able to make my goal a reality."

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According to her WHAS-TV bio, Smith graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in political science. She also served as vice president of the school's National Association of Black Journalists chapter and worked as a summer Fox News College Associate in the Washington, D.C. bureau.

She will go on to represent the United States at the Miss Universe pageant in 2021, which will be held in Eilat, Israel on December 12th.

Steve Harvey will take over as host once more. The three-hour event will be televised live in the United States on Fox, as well as in 180 other countries and territories across the world. It will conclude with Andrea Meza of Mexico, the current Miss Universe, crowning her successor.

Miss Universe pageant organizers said on Monday that a candidate tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Israel.

They did not identify the contestant, and it was unknown whether she was infected with the omicron strain, which has caused widespread concern and was recently discovered in a tourist returning to Israel.

The majority of the 80 contestants have arrived in Israel, according to the Miss Universe Organization, and the event will go on as planned, with rigorous coronavirus safeguards. The contestants will compete in national costumes, evening gowns, and swimsuits, as well as a series of interviews.

After at least one case was identified in a vaccinated traveler returning from Malawi, Israel closed its borders to all foreign tourists over the weekend, one of several measures taken to prevent the spread of the new type. The variety was first discovered in South Africa, but it has subsequently spread to several European countries, as well as Hong Kong and Australia.

The candidate tested positive upon arriving in Israel, according to the organisers, and was transported to a government-run isolation hotel. They claimed she had been completely vaccinated and tested before leaving.