Ch Ch Changes for the Miss America pageant. Contestants won't be wearing swimsuits or evening gowns any longer.
Gretchen Carlson, the 1998 winner of the competition and its new chair of the board of trustees, announced the changes." The next Miss America competition begins September 9. Carlson said, "We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That's huge. And that means we will no longer have a swimsuit competition." She added, We want to be open, transparent, and inclusive to women who may not have been comfortable participating in our competition before."