Female Beauty

The pretty Miss New Jersey, Ashley Harder, 20, has decided to gave up her dream to compete for the Miss USA pageant which is to be held on March 23 in Los Angeles, since she found out that she was pregnant. Ms. Harder told the Philadelphia Daily News that she is voluntarily stepping down because it’s against pageant rules to compete while pregnant. Harder, who was crowned in October, also said that she’s expecting her child in “late summer” and plans to marry her live-in boyfriend, Gregg D’Antonio. They are planning to wed, but are taking things “one step at a time,” Harder said. D’Antonio owns Trig Snowboarding, a snowboarding apparel company.

This has been an unusual year for the Miss USA organization. Last month, Miss Nevada Katie Rees was dethroned after photos of her exposing her breasts and kissing another girl popped up on online gossip sites. And last month, Miss USA Tara Conner entered rehab at Wernersville’s Caron Foundation after admitting to underage drinking, after media reports surfaced about her alleged drug and alcohol abuse and sexual indiscretions.

“This isn’t another scandal. This is a baby; this is a life,” Harder said when asked if she was worried her pregnancy would be treated as scandal, in light of Rees and Conner. Harder says being a mom “is a title I have always wanted and will always cherish.”

Ms. Harder began her modeling career while in high school, where she was a National Honor Society student. She moved to New York after graduating in 2004 to work as a model. She’s traveled to Japan and appeared in ads for Pepsi and Versace, among others. Runner-up Erin Abrahamson, 23, will assume the title and will represent the state in the upcoming Miss USA pageant in March. The winner of that competition goes on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. Both pageants are owned by Donald Trump and NBC.

Here are the current result of 2007 MISS NEW JERSEY USA (after Ashley Harder Resigned)

• Erin Abrahamson – Miss New Jersey USA 2007
• 4th Runner-up: Alicia Luciano
• 3rd Runner-up: Tiffany Andrade
• 2nd Runner-up: Jacklyn Pezzotta

Remaining Top-15 Semi-Finalists:

Noel Brown, Danielle Casale, Lisa DeMatteo, Kimberly Frangipane, Alice Gainer, Alyson Golkin, Brandi McLoyd, Ashley Nedd, Janet Pak, Lee Schneider

Other Awards:
Miss Photogenic: Marissa Mitchell
Miss Amity: Hope Field

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 16th, 2007 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Career, Entertainment, Pregnancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.