Larissa Meek is a former beauty queen who has competed in the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on th ...

and

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageants and a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

personality who starred in '' Average Joe: Hawaii''.

Pageants

In 1996 Meek won the Miss Missouri Teen USA 1997 title and competed in the

1997 pageant held at

South Padre Island, Texas South Padre Island is a resort town in Cameron County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Brownsville– Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,066 at the 2020 census. The town is located on South Padre Island, a ba ...

. She did not place but did earn an Honorable Mention (for placing between 11th and 15th place). In 2000 she competed in the

Miss Missouri USA The Miss Missouri USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Missouri in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates, based in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of st ...

pageant for the first time and won the title. Meek represented

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

at the

Miss USA 2001 Miss USA 2001 was the 50th Miss USA pageant, held at the Genesis Convention Center in Gary, Indiana on March 2, 2001. The event was won by Kandace Krueger of Texas, who was crowned by outgoing queen Lynnette Cole of Tennessee. The pageant ...

pageant telecast live from

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along th ...

in March 2001, and made the semifinals. Meek won both the swimsuit and evening gown competitions with scores of 9.45 and 9.39 respectively and advanced to the top five but failed to make the top three after finishing last in the interview competition. She placed fourth runner-up to Texas'

Kandace Krueger Kandace Gayle Krueger Matthews (born May 27, 1976) is an American journalist, singer, TV Host and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 2001 and represented the United States in the Miss Universe 2001 where she placed second runner-up. She i ...

Reality television

In 2003 she appeared as the star of the reality television show ''Average Joe: Hawaii'', succeeding fellow Miss Missouri Teen USA and Miss Missouri USA titleholder

Melana Scantlin Melana Scantlin (born December 4, 1977 Gladstone, Missouri) is an American entertainment journalist, sports journalist and former Miss Missouri USA, and reality TV star who also competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants. In college, she ...

for this role. When the show started she went on dates with "average Joes". Partway through the show, however, a bunch of "hunks" were brought in to compete against the Joes, a twist also used on the first edition of the show. When down to the final two men, Meek chose Gil Hyatt over "average Joe" Brian Worth, only to have Hyatt "reject" her after finding out that she previously had dated male supermodel

Fabio Fabio is a given name descended from Latin '' Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...

References

External links

Miss Missouri USA & Miss Missouri Teen USA official websiteBlog of Larissa Meek
1978 births Living people 1997 beauty pageant contestants 20th-century Miss Teen USA delegates Miss USA 2001 delegates Participants in American reality television series 20th-century American people {{US-tv-bio-stub