Bald Beauty Queen Competing In Miss America Pageant

by Verena von Pfetten | 4:11 pm, January 12th, 2011

Meet Kayla Martell. Come Saturday, she may just be our country’s first bald Miss America.

Martell suffers from alopecia areata, a rare condition that causes unexplained hair loss. Martell began losing her hair around the age of 10 and by the time she was 13, she was completely bald. Though Martell usually wears a wig while competing on the pageant circuit (“There’s nothing wrong with embellishing what you have. I want a great hairstyle!”), she eschews the look in her down time.

“The thought of getting a wig never crossed my mind at all,” she told MSNBC. “My mother first brought up the suggestion and brought home this awful brown wig… I wore it to school, but took it off in the middle of the day, put it in my backpack and never looked back.”

Martell competed in the Miss Delaware pageant five times before winning it this past June — and now she’s in Las Vegas for her chance at the Miss America crown. All Miss America contestants run on a platform of sorts, and Martell’s is, unsurprisingly, alopecia. Martell also has a blog, where she writes about her day to day life, her duties as Miss Delaware, and her experience with alopecia. It’s a nice, heartfelt read and she’s a good writer — but she also may be the first beauty queen we’ve ever given two hoots about. While we don’t know if she’s running with or without her wig in Vegas, we’re rooting for her. And we hope if she does win, she plants that crown on her gorgeous bald head without a second thought.

Watch Martell on CBS’ Early Show in June, with her adorable partner in alopecia awareness, Lily.

[MSNBC via The Frisky.]

bald miss america bald miss delaware beauty pageants Kayla Martell kayla martell bald kayla martell interview kayla martell photos Miss America miss delaware

vorianxavier

I’ll be rooting for her too!
azinamorata

Good for her! But I do wonder how if she was “completely bald” at the age of 13, but has hair now… Alopecia AREATA is not completely bald, it meansbald in “areas”.
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Hair is often considered one of the most valuable physical assets of a woman, as it characterizes female beauty, and defines her sense of personal grooming. Every woman goes to great lengths to maintain healthy and beautiful hair.
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Wow! I really like her. Shes not afraid what will people say and shes very brave. Thank you for sharing this information to us!
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Gogogo. Your still pretty.
Hair4ever

She is a pretty young lady. Hair is our glory, but it is not everything. I am proud of her for being herself. I, myself, have experience hair loss. Thanks to the Almighty God, my hair has now returned. With alopecia areata, hair will return no matter what, one never knows when it will flair up again. I am a hairstylist, I would suggest thorough scalp exfoliation on a monthly basis, change in diet – remove gluten, and use a laser with at least 120 diodes. It definitely worked for me. Also drink 1/2 ones body weight in water

Bald Beauty Queen Competing In Miss America Pageant

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