Shandi Finnessey

32
Shandi Finnessey bigraphy, stories - American beauty queen, model, and television hostess

Shandi Finnessey : biography

June 9, 1978 –

Shandi Ren Finnessey (born June 9, 1978, Florissant, Missouri) is an American beauty queen, model, television hostess, and actress. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss America where she won a preliminary award. She placed as first runner-up at the Miss Universe 2004 competition. She is one of three women to have been both Miss Missouri USA and Miss Missouri and the only Missourian to have been Miss USA. Her first runner-up finish at Miss Universe was the best placement in the 2000s and was the best United States placement Between Brook Mahealani Lee’s Miss Universe 1997 competition victory and Olivia Culpo’s Miss Universe 2012 pageant win.

In 2002, Finnessey authored an award-winning children’s book, The Furrtails, on individuality and disabilities. In the mid-2000s, she was Chuck Woolery’s co-host for the game show Lingo on the Game Show Network. Finessey has also hosted PlayMania as well as quiznation and has served as a sideline reporter for the CBS tournament blackjack series Ultimate Blackjack Tour.

Finnessey graduated from Incarnate Word Academy in 1996 and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Lindenwood University in 1999. She has credits toward a masters degree in counseling from the same university.

Personal

Her parents are Patrick and Linda Finnessey. She has three brothers (Shane, Damion and Paul) and her grandmothers’ names are Mildred Finnessey and Fern Miller. In high school, she had a mullet, tinted glasses, acne and braces, and was teased a lot. Eventually, the verbal bullying escalated to the point that she had to transfer from public school to an all-girls private school. She graduated from Incarnate Word Academy in 1996.

According to the press release issued at the time of her first public appearance as Miss USA on April 17, 2004 in New York City, she has earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. It also notes that she plays both the violin and piano. She also practices yoga, meditation and performs knitting and abstract painting. In 2003, she dated August Busch IV and has also dated Italo Zanzi. She is a Republican, and during her Miss USA reign she attended the The Commander-in-Chief’s Ball at the Second inauguration of George W. Bush.

Her Miss USA press release also notes that she began her professional modelling career at the age of 6. She modeled with Ford Models in Chicago and Talent Plus in St. Louis. According the Miss USA website at the time of her reign, her modelling experience included television commercials, runway modelling, newspaper and magazine ads as well as upscale fashion store experience. She claims to have once wrestled a greased pig. , her parents still lived in the house that she grew up in Florissant.

In 2013, Finnessey became a contestant on Ready for Love where she competed for the attention of Ernesto Arguello. She won Arguello’s heart on the show, but the relationship was short-lived in real life. Later that year, she posed nude for a PETA anti-fur campaign opposing the distribution of fur coats as prizes during beauty pageants.

Scholarly work

She earned her bachelors degree from Lindenwood University in December 1999 as an honors graduate. After graduating, she served as a full-time substitute teacher in Jackson. She authored an award-winning children’s book. Her book, which was published on August 1, 2002, was entitled Furrtails and helps the effort to integrate mentally retarded children into regular classrooms and helps children appreciate individuality and understand their peers who have disabilities. She was recognized with an Authors Who Make a Difference award, known as AWMAD, (from Infinity Publishing) and a Ryan Brems Award for this work. She authored a second book entitled Suzanna the Banana. She holds a master degrees in counseling from Lindenwood as well. She has published research on androgyny in the SEPA journal. She began her studies for a Ph.D. in counseling before being crowned Miss Missouri USA 2004.