Ashley Durham

Ashley Elizabeth Durham (born April 9, 1990) is a beauty queen from Tennessee who won Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2006 and Miss Tennessee USA 2011.

Durham won the Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2006 title in October 2005 representing Adamsville. Her sister titleholder was Lauren Grissom. To win the title, Durham edged out Johnna Disterdick who was the daughter of Miss Tennessee 1982, Miss Tennessee USA 1984, Desiree Denise Daniels, and Tucker Perry who would later crown Durham Miss Tennessee USA 2011. Durham went on to compete at Miss Teen USA 2006 but failed to place.

Five years Later Durham won the Miss Tennessee USA 2011 title on her first attempt. She is the fifth Miss Tennessee Teen USA titleholder to win the Miss Tennessee USA pageant, following former Miss USA titleholders Lynnette Cole and Rachel Smith who also held both Tennessee titles. Durham's sister titleholder is Kaitlin White, Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2011.

Durham ended as 1st runner-up in Miss USA 2011 pageant in held in Las Vegas.^[1] Her final question dealt with the First Amendment, and whether it should protect burning religious books.^[2] There was some controversy after the show was over when pageant judge Penn Teller said about her, "She negated the whole First Amendment," Jillette said in a tweet Sunday night. "Glad to help her lose." "Durham fired back at Jillette in a statement issued Tuesday through state pageant officials, saying she's disappointed with Jillette's reaction. She said it's uncalled for that he would delight in shooting down her dreams." ^[3]

Durham graduated from Adamsville Jr/Sr High School in 2008, where she was a varsity cheerleader. She graduated from the University of Memphis in 2012 where she majored in journalism and public relations.^[4]

She also models for Tony Bowls where she has made many catalogue covers for Tony Bowls and appeared in magazines such as Seventeen, Cosmo, Justine, Hour Detroit, Golf Digest, among others. She is currently signed with Ford Models in Miami, Chicago, Wilhelmenia LA and New View Model Management.

References

External links

• LA Modeling Portfolio
• Miss Tennessee USA Website
• Pageant Update Website
• Jackson Sun article on Ashley
• Ashley's New View Model Management portfolio