MARK PRICE
msprice@charlotteobserver.com
Chelsea Cooley gambled and won big when she left Charlotte to compete for Miss USA. Now, with her reign ending Friday on live TV, she's going for broke.
Rather than return home to college, she's making a bid on Vanna White-style TV stardom.
"I've found a new place to stay in New York. I've hired an agent, and I want to start auditioning right away for commercials, hosting gigs and acting opportunities," says Cooley, 22, who was a student at Art Institute of Charlotte before winning the pageant in April 2005.
"I want to jump on it while my name is out there. I love working in television, and I have all this opportunity that I need to take advantage of. It might not be here a year from now. I'm determined to establish myself in this industry."
Cooley is off to a good start. She taped April episodes for NBC's game show "Deal or No Deal" (serving as a "suitcase girl") and the new "Celebrity Cooking Showdown," on which she's a contestant. "Showdown" is a five-day reality series (9 tonight, NBC) that pairs celebrities with famous chefs to see who can cook the best meal.
It could end up being a comedy, she says: "I've cooked three times in the year I've been Miss USA. Take-out and room service have become my best friend."
Not coincidentally, the final episode of the series airs Friday, just before NBC's 9 p.m. broadcast of the Miss USA pageant.
A segment of the pageant will be devoted to Cooley's year, little of which was spent lounging around the official Miss USA suite at Trump Place in New York City. Instead, she zigzagged the globe, distributing toys to children in Louisiana displaced by Hurricane Katrina, lobbying in Japan for North Carolina's textile industry, building homes in Tennessee for Habitat for Humanity and visiting U.S. troops at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Cooley was tireless in her approach to the job, say pageant officials, noting that her promotional appearances across the country raised $22.8 million for breast- and ovarian-cancer research. She'll be a tough act to follow, says Paula Shugart, president of the Miss USA/Miss Universe organization.
"People don't understand how unique this job is," says Shugart. "At the moment a winner is crowned, a group of people is back at the hotel, packing her belongings and canceling her return flight. She is told, `You're moving to New York and we're not sure when you're going home again.' This group takes over her life for a year. Chelsea was a little shellshocked at first, but she rose to the occasion."
Shugart is among those encouraging Cooley to pursue a career in television, which has become a home to many former winners. Recent successes include Miss USA 2003 Susie Castillo, a veejay for MTV's "TRL," and Miss USA 2004 Shandi Finnessey, who is a host on GSN, formerly the Game Show Network.
Cooley is also trying for an acting career. She won a speaking role on the daytime drama "Passions." She played a woman being proposed to by her boyfriend.
"I had to kiss this guy, so when we got on the set, I tried getting to know him. I wanted to know his name and where he was from before I kissed him, but he wasn't the nicest of people. He was standoffish and didn't want to talk," Cooley says. "Then, when he found out that I was Miss USA, he wouldn't shut up. He was like, `Yeah, I get to kiss Miss USA!' "
After a year of having every minute planned out, Cooley says she's looking forward to a good night's sleep with no wake-up calls. She hopes to spend a few days with family and friends, including her mother, Jackie Cooley of Charlotte; her father and stepmother, Doug and Tracy Cooley of Fort Mill, S.C.; and younger brother Andrew.
"I've gotten real emotional in the past couple of weeks when I think about the pageant," she says. "It's bittersweet. I worked so hard to get here, yet I'm excited to see what else is in store for me. I'm a crier, but I'm hoping I don't put on that ugly crying face (on TV) and make a big puddle."
Chelsea Cooley was interviewed on Pageantcast 002.
Miss USA 2006
9 p.m. Friday on NBC.
Hosts include "Access Hollywood's" Nancy O'Dell and "Dancing With The Star's" winner Drew Lachey. The 51 contestants include North Carolina's Samantha Holvey of Buies Creek and South Carolina's Lacie Lyn Lybrand of Lexington.
Contestants will be judged in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview.
Source: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/entertainment/television/14359154.htm
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