Who Won Miss USA 2016? Deshauna Barber To Crown 2017 Winner

Deshauna Barber was crowned Miss USA 2016 last year, but she will be forced to hand over her tiara when a new winner is given the title Sunday. This year’s competition is slated to take place at the Mandalay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Barber, 27, made history last year since she was the first woman actively serving in the United States military to be crowned with the Miss USA title. The question-and-answer part of her competition is arguably what set her apart from the other girls.

READ: What’s The Difference Between Miss USA And Miss America?

She was asked if Pentagon's mandate to allow women to participate in combat roles had “put political correctness over our military's ability to perform.”

“As a woman in the United States Army, I think it was an amazing job by our government to allow women to integrate into every branch of the military,” she said. “We are just as tough as men. As a commander of my unit I am powerful, I am dedicated, and it is important to recognize that gender does not limit us in the United States Army."

Barber was praised for her response, which garnered national attention. She is the daughter of an Army Master Sergeant who served in the United States Special Forces.

Barber never dreamed of being a beauty queen. She was discovered in a Target store during her sophomore year of college. A customer started asking her personal questions like her age, if she was born in the U.S. and if she had any children.

“I just said, ‘Is there something I can do for you?’ and she said, ‘Well, you're so beautiful, I wonder if you've ever considered pageants,’” Barber recalled to Cosmopolitan in June 2016. The woman who stopped her turned out to be, Leslie Morton, a former Miss Texas USA contestant. “I really didn't look all that great that day.”

Growing up in an Army household, being girly wasn’t Barber’s every day life. “Being glamorous and being girly is something that's not really incorporated in my childhood,” she told Cosmopolitan.

But she fell in love with pageants. “To have that moment of glamour, to really get dolled up and so empowered on stage, show off all your hard work, your body, your gown, I fell in love with the industry and I've been doing it ever since,” she said.

One of the hardest parts of transitioning into a beauty queen was getting down her makeup routine. “When I wake up, I just get up and go, and I throw on a little bit of foundation, mascara, eyebrow,” Barber explained.

“Learning to glamour myself up more often was a growing pain. But after winning Miss District of Columbia USA, I really learned how to wake up and make sure that I look 110 percent before I walk out of the door. Going from very homely-ish to getting glamorous was definitely my transition.”

The 2017 edition of the Miss USA pageant will be hosted by “Dancing With the Stars ” alum Julianne Hough and Terrence J. Entertainers like Pitbull and Brett Eldredge will put on performances.

Don’t miss the contest when it airs 8 p.m. EDT on Fox.

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