Cheslie Kryst was an American television presenter, model, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA in 2019. Kryst was a licensed attorney in both North and South Carolina and had served as a correspondent for Extra from October 2019 until her death on January 30th 2022. For her work on Extra, she was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards.
Kryst began her pageantry career as a teenager, winning Miss Freshman at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and later Miss Fort Mill High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Kryst took several years off from pageantry, later making two attempts to win the Miss North Carolina title, placing in the top ten her first attempt and first runner-up on her second attempt. In 2016, Kryst competed in Miss North Carolina USA 2017, where she placed as the fourth runner-up. She returned the following year and placed in the top ten, before returning again for Miss North Carolina USA 2019, where she won the title, representing Metrolina.
"As Miss North Carolina USA, Kryst was given the right to represent North Carolina at the Miss USA 2019 competition, held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. She went on to win the competition and became the third woman from North Carolina to win the title, following Chelsea Cooley and Kristen Dalton, who were crowned Miss USA 2005 and Miss USA 2009, respectively. At 28-years-old Kryst became the oldest woman to be crowned Miss USA, breaking the previous record held by Nana Meriwether, who was 27 years, 6 months, and 26 days old upon assuming the title.
With her win, 2019 became the first year that all four major United States-based pageants were won by women with African ancestry; other titleholders were Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa (as Miss Universe 2019), Nia Franklin (as Miss America 2019), and Kaliegh Garris (as Miss Teen USA 2019).
As Miss USA, Kryst took a one-year leave of absence from her law career to fulfill her pageantry duties. She represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2019 competition on December 8, 2019 and finished in the top ten.
Her national costume was inspired by four American female icons: Rosie the Riveter, the Statue of Liberty, Maya Angelou, and Lady Justice. Kryst's reign was originally scheduled to end on spring 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she became the longest reigning Miss USA titleholder on June 5, 2020, surpassing Nia Sanchez's previous record of 399 days. Her reign ended with a total of 557 days on November 9, 2020 and she crowned Asya Branch of Mississippi as her successor at the Miss USA 2020 pageant."
Kryst passed away earlier today in New York City, after leaping to her death from the The Orion, a 60-story high-rise apartment building in Midtown Manhattan, where she resided on the 29th floor. She reportedly left a suicide note leaving her belongings to her mother.
Comments