Nadia Grace Eicher Mejia (born 22 November 1995) is an American-Ecuadorian model and beauty pageant titleholder who won

Miss California USA Miss California USA is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The pageant is directed by Crown Diva Productions. California's mos ...

2016 and placed in the Top 5 at

Miss USA 2016 Miss USA 2016 was the 65th Miss USA pageant, held at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, on June 5, 2016. Terrence J and Julianne Hough all hosted for the first time, while Ashley Graham served as the backstage host. All fifty states and ...

. She also competed at

Miss Universe Ecuador 2024 Miss Universe Ecuador 2024 was the first Miss Universe Ecuador pageant under CNB Ecuador, held at the Parque Zoila Ugarte de Landívar in Machala, El Oro, Ecuador, on June 8, 2024. Mara Topić of Guayaquil was crowned as the winner at the end ...

, eventually finishing first runner-up.

Early life

Mejia is the daughter of Ecuadorian-born musician

Gerardo Mejía Gerardo Mejía (born April 16, 1965 Biography – Gerardo ''Billboard.com.'' Retrieved September 22, 2008.), better known by his mononym Gerardo, is an Ecuadorian-born American singer, rapper and actor. He gained wide visibility with his 1990s h ...

, best known for the 1991 song " Rico Suave", and Kathy Eicher,

Miss West Virginia USA The Miss West Virginia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of West Virginia in the Miss USA pageant. This pageant is independently conducted and produced by Empower2 Productions LLC. and is formerly dire ...

1989, and appeared with her family on the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show ''Suave Says''. She is a 2013 graduate of

Diamond Bar High School Diamond Bar High School (DBHS) is a public high school located in Diamond Bar, California, as part of the Walnut Valley Unified School District. Diamond Bar High School's mascot is the Brahma, and the school colors are purple and gold. Diamond ...

. Mejia works as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and is signed to

Next Management Jean-Luc Didier Henri Brunel (; 18 September 1946 – 19 February 2022) was a French model scout. He gained prominence by leading the international modelling agency Karin Models, and founded MC2 Model Management, with financing by Jeffrey Epstein ...

. She once suffered from

anorexia Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

Pageantry

Mejia began her pageantry career when she was crowned as Miss Beverly Hills Teen USA 2013 and then competing two times for

Miss California Teen USA The Miss California Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss Teen USA pageant. It was formed in 1983. This pageant is part of the Miss USA Organization. California is in the to ...

and making fourth runner-up in 2013 and the next year was top twenty in the same category. Her mother was the inspiration to Mejia to continue in the beauty pageants, after the diagnosis of

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induc ...

. Later she won Miss Malibu USA 2015 and making the top twenty at Miss California USA 2015. Mejia won the Miss California USA 2016 title as Miss Corona del Mar, on December 6, 2015 She went on to represent

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

at the

pageant where she was voted Fan Favorite and made the top five. Mejia's open sharing of her

body image Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in several disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psycho ...

struggle was praised as a contributing factor for winning the fan favourite vote, however her failed attempt at answering a question about

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

during the interview competition was also widely reported in the media. In 2018, Mejía was featured in major advertising campaigns for Skechers and Too Faced Cosmetics. In January 2024 Mejia returned to pageantry, participating in the virtual casting for the first edition of

Miss Universe Ecuador Miss Universe Ecuador is a beauty pageant and organization that selects Ecuador's official representative to Miss Universe. The reigning Miss Universe Ecuador is Nadia Mejia of the Ecuadorian Community in the United States, who was crowned on J ...

, where she was selected as one of the 25 contestants chosen to vie for the title. She was later designated as delegate to the U.S. Ecuadorian community in the national pageant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mejia, Nadia 1995 births American beauty pageant winners American people of Ecuadorian descent Beauty pageant contestants from California Living people Miss USA 2016 delegates People from Diamond Bar, California