New Kid on the Block – Miss USA to be Trumped?

Speculation is rife about whether Mr. Donald Trump, real estate moghul and host of the popular reality TV show, The Apprentice, will say ‘You’re fired!’ yet again, but in a different setting than The Apprentice. Rumors are afloat that he may say so, or that he has already said so, to Miss USA Tara Conner, for her wild partying ways.

Trump, who owns the franchises for Miss USA and Miss Universe, is a strict teetotaler himself and is keen that the winners of these pageants maintain a level of decorum that is identifiable with the dignity of being an ambassador for the pageants. While the organizers of Miss USA have refrained from handing over a written copy of the rule book for the winners, they insisted that winners, as always, should be role models.

Reports have been pouring in thick and fast of the wild partying that Tara Conner, a small-town Kentucky girl and winner of the Miss USA pageant crown has been indulging in at New York’s nightspots. Besides the partying, she has been romantically linked to two of the owners of Stereo, a hot and happening nightclub in New York, and also to celebrities who frequent this particular watering hole. That is a lot of partying indeed, and in the Trump’s own backyard.

When asked about the situation, Trump didn’t comment on whether he had or would be firing her, but termed the situation serious. He said he was concerned about her, and would like to do what was best for Conner as well as the pageant. The situation was serious enough for Conner to cancel the dual bashes she was planning at Stereo in New York and the Pure club in Vegas to celebrate her 21st birthday.

If Trump fires Conner, this won’t be the first time he will be doing it. In 2002, he fired Oxana Fedorova, the Miss Universe winner from Russia, for not being able to discharge her duties as winner of the pageant. Winners of pageants are always under huge pressure. They are thrust under the media glare all of a sudden, and yet have to behave as role models for the millions of other teenagers that look up to them. This is by no means an easy task, but while assuming the crown, one has also to assume the responsibilities that come with wearing it.

In the event that Conner is fired, the runner-up, Tamiko Nash, Miss California, will step into her shoes as Miss USA.