Miss Missouri Erin O'Flaherty's behind-the-scenes secrets about Miss America
Before the 52 Miss America 2017 contestants walk the pageant runway during tonight's competition, Miss Missouri Erin O'Flaherty answered our questions about the fittings, secret meetings, and other behind-the-scenes magic that viewers at home may not realize.
Pageant queens' favorite backstage hack
That Miss America stage can get slippery. To keep her heels from sliding as she struts down the runway, O'Flaherty sprays the bottom of her shoes with hairspray before she steps onstage.
However, every competitor has their own shoe-grip method of choice. At a backstage fitting, several of Miss Missouri's groupmates claimed Coca-Cola to be a superior grip method, explaining that hairspray can sometimes make shoes even more slick once it dries.
High-heel requirements — or the lack thereof
Standing at 5'5", O'Flaherty is nearly half a foot shorter than some of her other competitors. But don't think that the Miss America competition requires its shorter members to wear higher heels, or vice versa.
"We don't have to all wear certain things — we can wear whatever we want," she explained. "There aren't any requirements for shoes or anything."
"When we got here, we did have a wardrobe fitting, just to make sure everything still fit well, that our shoes and our jewelry all went with our wardrobe, but there aren't any requirements we have to have."
As O'Flaherty's groupmate Miss West Virginia Morgan Breeden explained backstage, contestants often wear custom-made evening gowns, while some purchase theirs at retail. There's nothing keeping two girls from showing up with very similar dresses — except lots of luck.
The judges' meeting viewers don't see
When the pageant contestants come face-to-face with the night's celebrity judges on the live broadcast — the panel includes Ciara, Gabby Douglas, Mark Cuban, Sara Foster, Laura Marano and Cole Swindell — that won't be the first time they meet.
"A lot of people don't realize we have a private ten-minute interview with the judges," O'Flaherty explains. And people don't see that -- they just see the on-stage question and our stage performances, but we do get to spend a little bit of time with the judges so they get to know us and what we're about."
Bye bye, personal social media accounts
How do contestants manage their social media followings once they blow up in anticipation of the pageant? Instead of using her personal accounts, O'Flaherty and other Miss America competitors utilize the official branded accounts of the state winners.
"My following has grown exponentially, but I actually don't use my personal account — I use the Miss Missouri account," she said. "It helps the Miss America organization because it feeds into their following as well."
Read more about O'Flaherty's road to the Miss America pageant below.