Kiran Reddy of Georgia is Miss Teen USA 2026!
Georgia has finally won its first Miss Teen USA crown! After several years of earning a runner-up position at Miss Teen USA over the years, Kiran has done it for the Peach state!
Kiran Reddy is also the third Miss Teen USA with Indian heritage. Nebraska's Faron Medhi who won Miss Teen USA 2022 is half-Indian on her father's side and Kiran's father is also Indian. Faron's mother is Caucasian and Kiran's mother is also Caucasian. New Jersey's UmaSofia Srivastava-Miss Teen USA 2023 is half-Indian on her father's side but her mother is Mexican.
Kiran was an open casting delegate selected to represent Georgia but unlike some of the other open casting delegates, Kiran actually lives in the state she represented and you could hear it in Kiran's southern accent! Kiran is 18 years old from the city of Douglas and she even competed for Miss Georgia USA while Kim Greenwood was still the director placing as 2nd runner-up in 2025 and 1st runner-up in 2024 to Ava Colindres who was 1st runner up at Miss Teen USA 2024.
The show itself was not too different from last year. The intro featured the delegates with a troupe of dancers proclaiming "To the top is where I'm going!" The delegates were introduced in pre-taped segments shown as part of the opening number. This year's hosts were Sean Michael Rae and Noelia Voigt-Miss USA 2023 who stepped in to replace Kamie Crawford-Miss Teen USA 2010 for reasons unknown but many speculate it had to do with the CW network no longer airing the pageant on their television network so it was livestreamed again on the Queen Beauty Network. Sean had some moments in the prelims were he wasn't holding the microphone close to his face so we couldn't fully hear him sometimes so I guess he needed more rehearsal practice or something but Noelia was an excellent substitute. Not only does she have incredible speaking skills but her enthusiasm for pageantry really shows and it really makes a difference in presentation. One thing that bugged me about production was that Arkansas' name was miscaptioned as Allison Kirksey (Alaska's name) instead of her actual name, Raquel Olea and I also noticed some crisscrossing of captions where the names of the people on screen were mismatched like the color commentators, Dani Walker and Andreia Gibau and there were some minor glitches like some multicamera imagery showed in the preliminaries so some thought this was more of a college-level production with some mistakes that should have been fixed. Dani and Andreia did a great job as commentators though.
There were 16 open casting delegates selected this year which is double from last year due to the dropouts of three former state directors: Will Henderson (Texas), Kim Greenwood (Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee) and Melissa Proctor-Pitchford (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania). From last year, we still had the 8 states still without directors (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming). Will this change in time for the 2027 season? We'll just have to wait and see!In terms of my predictions, I did pretty well this year actually which is often not the case with Miss Teen USA as I usually miss the more Teen-looking delegates... I picked 14 of the top 20 plus 2 alternates (Texas and Virginia) plus 1 next tier delegate (Connecticut). The three I missed entirely were: California, South Carolina and Wyoming. California and South Carolina are normally successful states but I just didn't see in their more teen-looking delegates this year. The 6 ladies in my list that didn't place were: Mississippi, Delaware, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah so it was surprising to me that these ladies didn't place. What happened to my ladies that didn't place? Well, this is the 2nd year in a row that I predicted Mississippi to be 1st runner up and just like last year, Mississippi didn't place with a fantastic and beautiful delegate too. Is Mississippi on the blacklist for Miss Teen USA all of a sudden? Mykala Donlon was stunning and unique as she was born in South Africa. She was an open casting delegate who was also 1st runner up at Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2026 but South Carolina did place so I have no idea what happened there. Delaware's Sydney Hayden was a great candidate also and seemed like a surefire placement and she won her state pageant on her first try so that was an odd omission too. Nebraska's Brynlee Hansen was another great overall contestant who won her state pageant on her first try so I have no clue as to what happened there. Oklahoma's Chloe Braxton was yet another great overall contestant so it was pretty shocking to see her omitted. I loved her black gown with the teal train. It was divine. Tennessee's Alana Dixon was a runner-up in Oklahoma and Texas prior to being assigned to represent Tennessee. Even in the show, the commentators were surprised that she didn't place. I put her in my list because a lot of people had her in their lists. Finally, Utah's Maizy Baldwin also was a great overall candidate and runner-up in her state pageant the year prior to her win.
The special award winners were: Oregon for fitness, Connecticut for photogenic, Tennessee for state costume (fan vote), South Dakota for Congeniality and the Miss Teen Flixxe award went to Wisconsin with New Mexico as runner-up. The top 3 People's Choice vote recipients fast-tracked to the top 20 were: 1. Louisiana, 2. South Carolina, 3. VIrginia and the Westgate Ambassador winner was Michigan also fast-tracked to top 20. Alaska's Allison Kirksey was one of this year's standout contestants being noticeably full-figured unlike most of the delegate so I thought she would get some recognition but I guess it was not to be. I was actually hoping she would win the online vote and place and proudly display her figure similarly to Nepal's Jane Dipika Garrett at Miss Universe 2023.
Now it was time for the top 5 to answer their judge's questions. Texas was asked by Marie P. Anderson, "What is something that you believe is worth standing up for?" Texas answered, "Always stand up for things that matter to you deeply in your heart. That's something that I feel like I struggled with growing up is that I would just concede and not go with what I truly wanted because I wanted to please others and I think especially as a woman, especially today, we need to go with what we truly want and stand strong in all of our decisions." This was an okay answer. She may have not said something specific but sometimes you have to dance around things to not offend anyone. Arkansas was asked by Bessie Besana, "If you could put a message on a billboard for every young person to see, what would it say and why?" Arkansas replied, "It would say, 'Be a little bit kinder to yourself.' As you heard in my intro, I've lost over a hundred pounds and that wasn't something easy. It started with simple actions like just giving myself a simple compliment but the kinder you are to yourself, the kinder you can be to others and I believe that can truly make an impact." What an excellent answer and she used an example from her own life, stated it succinctly and brought out a very positive message. Well done, Arkansas! New York was asked by Kelsey Swanson, "Everyone wants to leave a legacy. What does building a legacy mean to you?" New York answered, "Being able to make an impact on the life of someone whether that's just one person or a whole group of people. Growing up as a little girl, I faced chronic lyme disease and that was truly one of the most difficult points of my life but when I felt alone and isolated, I had the arts there for me and I wanted nothing more than a role model to look up to, to tell me that I was going to be able to make it out of the situation that I was facing and as Miss New York Teen USA, I've been able to do that for the girls. Not only have I created my own initiative, Art & Soul where we bring the arts to children in underserved communities and those facing chronic illness but we've been able to reach over 300 children across the state of New York. As your next Miss Teen USA, I am ready to expand this initiative across the nation and I'm ready to serve as living proof to every little girl out there who is just like me that no matter what they're facing, they can overcome it. Thank you." This was easily the longest answer but I don't recall them saying there was a time limit either so if you can use up your time, have at it! I think this was a really strong answer and well delivered and showed how prepared she was. She probably should have included boys and not just girls and maybe shouldn't have repeated what Arkansas just said prior to her (make an impact) but Elisa did exceptionally well and by sheer chance, I happened to predict her exact position as 2nd runner up! Indiana was next and Kaliegh Garris asked, "If you could inspire your generation to do one thing differently, what would you choose?" Indiana answered, "Just go for it. I know growing up that I was so afraid to go out of my comfort zone and do things that I was scared of but being here on stage is showing that I am living proof that it doesn't matter what you are afraid of. It doesn't matter that if you think you're incapable, you are capable of doing it so just go for it. Find that dream and go for it and create a plan. Thank you." Another great answer but I think the judges ranked it correctly above Texas but below New York and Arkansas. Finally, Georgia was asked by Ki'ilani Arruda, "Would you rather be remembered for something you created or something you changed and why?" Georgia answered, "I would be remembered as for something that I've changed. As an Indian-American, the first Indian-American Georgia Teen USA, I have changed the narrative. I have shown every single little girl like me that they can do it too. For a long time, I felt like I didn't fit into places. I grew up in private school. I'm from a small town in south Georgia but I learned that I can make space where I'm needed and as a young woman, that is the message that I want to preach and as the next Miss Teen USA, that is the legacy and the change that I would leave." You could really hear the southern accent in Kiran's voice especially when her "I's" sound like "Ah's". Half the judges were visible minorities and I felt Kiran's message resonated with them and the other judges likely supported embracing diversity so this combined with Kiran's southern charm edged her ahead of Arkansas and New York.
