You feel terrible for her or you’re still rolling on the floor laughing. Either way Lauren Caitlin Upton sure is making a name for herself… and it’s not because the beauty pageant contestant walked away with the title of Miss Teen USA Friday night.
She didn’t. But, I don’t think many people noticed. Rather, most viewers who tuned into the Donald Trump owned pageant on Friday night were trying to figure out what the teen was trying to say when she fought to answer a question posed by show host Mario Lopez.
Upton was asked, “Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?”
Her answer: “I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and uh, I believe that our, I, education like such as uh, South Africa, and uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uhhh, our education over here in the US should help the US, uh, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us.”
Huh?
Upton’s mangled response to the question may not have won her the Miss Teen USA crown, but it gained her the title of YouTube queen. Her on camera gaffe received more than 2 million hits in just 48 hours.
But, that’s not the strangest twist. Apparently, Upton has agreed to answer the same question tomorrow morning on NBC’s “Today” show.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Upton a newspaper reporter in her South Carolina hometown. “I wasn’t expecting [the question]. I lost my train of thought.”
She added she “completely misunderstood” the question.
For the record, Upton was a varsity athlete and student leader at Lexington High School, where she graduated in June with a 3.5 GPA. So it’s not like she has never seen a world map before.
But, before you bury your head in shame for Upton, you should know that despite her horrendous answer the blonde beauty finished as third runner-up in the pageant (not too shabby).
Oh and in case any one cares, Miss Teen Colorado Hilary Carol Cruz was the one who received the crown on Friday.
Were you watching?
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