KELTIE KNIGHT AND ADRIENNE BAILON-HOUGHTON TO HOST THE 72ND MISS USA PAGEANT

Radio Personality Ellen K to Announce the Pageant

Judges include Nicole Miller, Vivica A. Fox, Emina Cunmulaj Nazarian and Patrick Starrr

The Miss USA Pageant to Air Live on The CW NETWORK On Friday, September 29

September 20, 2023 (Burbank, CA) - The CW Network announced today that talk show hosts Keltie Knight and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton will host THE 72nd MISS USA PAGEANT which will air live on Friday, September 29 (8:00-10:00pm ET/PT - delayed PT, check local listings). The legendary radio personality Ellen K will serve as the announcer for the pageant. The companion pageant MISS TEEN USA will be available to stream on The CW App and cwtv.com on Thursday, September 28 at 7:00pm PT.

Keltie Knight is a three-time Emmy(R) award-winning television host whose credits include CBS's "Entertainment Tonight," "The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS," "The Grammys Red Carpet Live" and is currently the Chief Correspondent for E! NEWS. She is a NYT bestselling author, and her podcast "Ladygang" has reached an impressive 180 million downloads worldwide. Knight is the creator, executive producer and host of the new CBS Primetime Series "Superfan."

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is a current host of E! News and a Daytime Emmy Award-winning television host, acclaimed pop-vocalist, Grammy-nominated producer, lifestyle personality, and founder of the jewelry brand XIXI and luxury fashion label La Voûte. Bailon-Houghton co-hosted the daily talk show "The Real," and made Houghton the first Latina daytime talk show host on English-language television. Along with her co-hosts, Bailon-Houghton won a 2018 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host and a 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Talk Series. She rose to fame in 1999 as the lead singer of multi-platinum R&B girl group 3LW and in 2003, became a founding member of the pop group The Cheetah Girls and was featured in the movie of the same name. Two sequel films also were released, "The Cheetah Girls 2" and "The Cheetah Girls: One World."

Joining Keltie and Adrienne are judges fashion designer & businesswoman Nicole Miller; actress, director, producer & entrepreneur Vivica A. Fox; model, philanthropist, and entrepreneur Emina Cunmulaj Nazarian; and beauty entrepreneur and founder of One/Size Beauty, Patrick Starrr, with commentary from Jordan Kimball and the current Miss USA Morgan Romano.

The judges for the Miss Teen USA pageant will be actress, producer and entrepreneur Emily Shah; founder of Kopu Water Mindy Mahy; Miss World 1ru, Miss World America, speaker & business owner Shree Saini; the first Miss Teen USA Ruth Zakarian; Nia Sanchez Booko, Miss USA 2014 and Miss Universe First Runner Up and self-defense instructor with Chris Persky and current Miss Teen USA Faron Medhi serving as commentators.

Both highly anticipated events will take place at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. The pageants will bring together titleholders from each state as they compete to win the prestigious title of Miss USA 2023 and Miss Teen USA 2023. Miss USA 2022 Morgan Romano of North Carolina and Miss Teen USA 2022 Faron Medhi of Nebraska will be in attendance to pass the crown down to their successors. The new Miss USA titleholder will go on to represent the United States at the Miss Universe 2023 competition at the end of this year.

THE 72ND MISS USA PAGEANT is executive produced by Renato Basile of RB Entertainment Inc. Laylah Rose serves as President and CEO of Miss USA/Miss Teen USA and Megan Micale is Chief Operating Officer.

ABOUT THE CW:

The CW Network, LLC is one of America's major broadcast networks and reaches 100% of US television households. The CW delivers 14 hours of primetime entertainment programming per week in addition to over 300 hours of sports per year as the broadcast home to LIV Golf, ACC football and basketball games, and the NASCAR Xfinity Series beginning in 2025. The fully ad-supported CW App, with more than 96 million downloads to date, is available for free to consumers on all major platforms and is home to thelatest episodes and seasons of The CW's primetime programming and a library of entertaining film and television content for on-demand viewing. The CW is 75%-owned by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), a leading diversified media company and largest CW affiliate group with 40 CW and CW Plus affiliates, covering 38% of television households. For more information about The CW, please visit www.cwtv.com.

ABOUT MISS USA:

Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the woman who will represent the United States at the Miss Universe pageant. Historically, the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants were owned and operated by the Miss Universe Organization, The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA until 2022 when Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip purchased the organization.

For over 60 years, Miss USA has been a staple in the pageant industry, providing young women with the platform to showcase their talents, intelligence, and leadership skills. We believe in the power of women to make a difference in the world, and Miss USA is proud to have crowned some of the most successful and influential women in the world.

The Miss USA pageant is not just about outer beauty; it celebrates the inner beauty and intelligence of each contestant. Each contestant comes from diverse backgrounds and have varied interests, but they all share the same goal of empowering and inspiring young women across the world. The Miss USA organization believes that every woman has the potential to achieve great things, and is committed to providing them with the resources and opportunities to do so.