Shandi Finnessey
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
Shandi Finnessey
|
|
| Born |
Shandi Ren Finnessey June 9, 1978 Florissant, Missouri, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Hair color | Blonde |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Title(s) |
Miss Missouri 2002 Miss Missouri USA 2004 Miss USA 2004 |
| Major competition(s) |
Miss America 2003 Miss USA 2004 (winner) Miss Universe 2004 (1st runner-up) |
| Official website | |
Shandi Ren Finnessey (born June 9, 1978, in Florissant, Missouri) is an American actress, model, TV host and beauty queen. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss America, where she won a preliminary award. She placed as first runner-up at the Miss Universe 2004 competition. She is one of three women to have been both Miss Missouri USA and Miss Missouri and the only Missourian to have been Miss USA. Her first runner-up finish at Miss Universe was the best placement in the 2000s and was the best United States placement between Brook Mahealani Lee's Miss Universe 1997 competition victory and Olivia Culpo's Miss Universe 2012 pageant win.
In 2002, Finnessey authored an award-winning children’s book, The Furrtails, on individuality and disabilities. In the mid-2000s, she was Chuck Woolery's co-host for the game show Lingo on the Game Show Network. Finessey has also hosted PlayMania as well as quiznation and has served as a sideline reporter for the CBS tournament blackjack series Ultimate Blackjack Tour.
Finnessey was born to Patrick and Linda Finnessey, and she grew up in Florissant, Missouri. She attended McCluer North High School public high school for two years where, according to an interview with ABILITY Magazine, she was teased a lot for her appearance. Finnessey recounted that she "had a mullet, tinted glasses, acne and braces." The teasing made it difficult for her to focus on her studies, so for her junior year she transferred to the private all-girls Incarnate Word Academy, where she graduated in 1996. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Lindenwood University in December 1999. Following graduation, she worked briefly as a full-time substitute teacher in Jackson, Missouri, before starting graduate school. She began working on her Masters in Counseling, also at Lindenwood, but postponed her studies after being crowned Miss USA in 2004.
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