Kylan Olivia Darnell is an American beauty pageant winner and internet personality. She was crowned

Miss Ohio Teen USA The Miss Ohio Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Ohio in the Miss Teen USA pageant and the name of the title held by that winner. Most recently the pageant has been held in Springfield, Ohi ...

in 2022 and went on to represent Ohio at the

Miss Teen USA 2022 Miss Teen USA 2022 was the 40th Miss Teen USA pageant, held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, United States, on October 1, 2022. Breanna Myles of Florida crowned Faron Medhi of Nebraska as her successor at the end of the event. Bac ...

, where she placed in the Top 16 and won the Fan Favorite title. Darnell is a

TikToker TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

who became notable for partaking in Bama Rush, an online phenomenon that focused on the recruitment for

National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella or trade association for 26 national and international women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. '' Panhellenic'' () refers to the group's members being autonomous social ...

sororities at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

. Darnell, who documented her journey through recruitment and then as a member of

Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its international office is located in Carmel, Indiana. It ...

, has received over 35.5 million likes on her videos, and amassed over 661,600 followers by 2023.

Early life and education

Darnell was born in

Wheelersburg, Ohio Wheelersburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in Scioto County, Ohio, United States. It lies along the northern banks of the Ohio River in southern Ohio. Wheelersburg is approximately east of Portsmouth and west of Ironton. It is in P ...

and grew up on her family's farm in

Franklin Furnace Franklin Furnace, also known as the Franklin Mine, is a famous mineral location for rare zinc, iron, and manganese minerals in old mines in Franklin, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. This locale produced more species of minerals (o ...

. She attended Wheelersburg High School, where she was a varsity cheerleader and a member of the softball, track & field, and soccer teams.

Pageants

Darnell began pageants as a child, winning Little Miss Portsmouth when she was five years old. She won the title of Miss Portsmouth's Outstanding Teen when she was fifteen years old, competing with dance as her talent portion and volunteering as her charitable platform. She went on to compete in the Miss Ohio Outstanding Teen. She was fourth runner-up in 2019 and second runner-up in 2021 at the Miss Ohio Outstanding Teen pageant. On May 21, 2022, Darnell was crowned

at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts in

Portsmouth, Ohio Portsmouth is a city in Scioto County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southern Ohio south of Chillicothe, Ohio, Chillicothe, it lies on the north bank of the Ohio River, across from Kentucky and just east of the mouth of th ...

. She had competed in the pageant the previous three years but hadn't made it to the finalist round until 2022. Her platform for competing was Girl Power, which promotes women empowerment. She represented Ohio while competing at the

in October 2022 at the

Grand Sierra Resort Grand Sierra Resort (formerly MGM Grand Reno, Bally's Reno and Reno Hilton) is a hotel and casino located approximately three miles east of Downtown Reno, Nevada. The hotel has 1,990 guest rooms and suites, 27 floors, 12 restaurants, including Ch ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

TikTok

While going through formal recruitment ("rush") to join a

sorority at the University of Alabama, Darnell began making

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

videos with rush tips and her outfit choices. Darnell was accepted into

sorority. The popularity of videos detailing sorority life and recruitment at the University of Alabama led to a phenomenon known as " Bama Rush" and "Rush Tok", which led to the rise of multiple TikTok celebrities, including Darnell and

Grant Sikes Grant Sikes is an American internet personality. He came out as non-binary and as a transgender woman on his TikTok, after gaining internet fame from partaking in 2022 Bama Rush, the formal recruitment process for sororities affiliated with the ...

. In July 2023, Darnell received backlash online after she made a TikTok video critiquing

Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig ( ; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. Initially known for working on various mumblecore films, she has since expanded from acting in and co-writing independent films to directing ...

's film ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darnell, Kylan Living people 21st-century Miss Teen USA delegates American beauty pageant winners American TikTokers Fashion influencers People from Wheelersburg, Ohio University of Alabama alumni Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)