Deidre Downs Gunn (born July 7, 1980) is an American physician and former beauty pageant titleholder. Downs was Miss Alabama 2004 and later was crowned Miss America 2005.

Education

After graduating from Pelham High School in 1998, Downs attended the University of Virginia on a volleyball scholarship. While at the University of Virginia, she was an Echols Scholar After her freshman year of college at the University of Virginia, Downs chose to focus on her studies and aspiration to go to medical school and ultimately transferred to Samford University. Her transfer resulted in her losing her scholarship, so she began competing in local pageants to earn scholarship money. She graduated magna cum laude in 2002 from Samford University with a degree in history and a double-minor in biology and chemistry. She was also a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship in 2002. She received her Doctor of Medicine in 2010 and then completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the UAB Medical Center in 2014. and first runner-up at Miss Alabama 2003 pageant. This was her 5th time competing in the Miss Alabama pageant.

In the preliminary competition, Downs was announced as the sole winner of the Quality of Life Award. For the talent portion of the competition, she sang Linda Eder's "I'm Afraid This Must be Love."

After competing in casual wear, swimsuit, evening gown, and participating in a "pop quiz", only two state titleholders remained, Downs and Miss Louisiana 2004, Jennifer Dupont. She then beat out Dupont after a head-to-head talent competition Along with the title of Miss America, Downs also won a $50,000 scholarship. Downs was the third Miss Alabama titleholder to win the Miss America title. They had a son in 2010. Her wife, Abbott Jones, is an attorney and writer. Downs is the first former Miss America national titleholder to enter a same-sex marriage.

References

  • Official website