The stunning Miss South Carolina, Rachel Wyatt amazed the crowds at the Miss America 2017 pageant, even if she didn’t win the crown. As the first runner-up of the Miss America 2017 pageant, Wyatt received a scholarship of $15,000. The Piedmont native became a crowd favorite with her dancing skills and had a glitzy second place finish. Back in 2011, she became the center of a viral video where she ‘Tebowed’ right after being crowned Miss South Carolina Teen.
Here are some interesting facts about the Miss America 2017 first runner-up, Rachel Wyatt.
1) Clemson Girls
Wyatt is a student at Clemson university and was the winner of the Clemson University pageant in 2014. Funnily, her predecessor for both Miss South Carolina 2016 and Miss Clemson University is the same person. Daja Dial, Miss South Carolina 2015 and Wyatt were called the ‘Clemson Girls,’ after five consecutive Miss South Carolina winners were from Clemson.
2) Heritage
Wyatt is a quarter Japanese and her full name is Rachel Yuki Wyatt. Yuki is Japanese for happiness. In an interview after being crowned Miss South Carolina, she shared her unique Thanksgiving tradition. Wyatt’s family celebrates Thanksgiving with fried rice and sweet potato casserole. A Kimono also adorns the Wyatt family’s living room.
3) Dancing background
The statuesque beauty wowed everyone with her dance routine, so it’s no surprise she’s got quite a stellar dancing background. At Clemson, Wyatt was part of the University’s elite dance team called the ‘Rally Cats’. She also took a break from the pageant world to pursue dancing for a year. She won the talent round of the Miss South Carolina Pageant by dancing a jazz routine to Whitney Houston’s “I wanna dance with somebody”.
the best day of the year…happy National Dance Day ????????
A photo posted by Rachel Wyatt (@rachelyukiwyatt) on
4) Working with Special Needs Adults
Wyatt is passionate about working with special needs adults. She has many special needs friends and teaches dance to special needs adults. She volunteers at Clemson Life, a university organization where students with special needs can learn independent life skills. Her platform for the Miss America pageant was adults with mental disabilities.
Sources:
http://goo.gl/y8VcCp
http://goo.gl/Cdq7vS
http://goo.gl/pT6xn0
http://goo.gl/UvoSHQ
