Blye Allen was named Miss Tennessee Teen USA and will not be representing Knoxville and Tennessee at the national competition later this year.
Allen has only been doing pageants for two years!
Allen is also from Knoxville and attends school at Christian Academy of Knoxville. She says she wants to use her platform to bring and raise awareness of teenage mental health.
“I really hope to just spread awareness about teen mental health, because I think it’s at a crisis level at the moment and I want to go to schools and share with principals, counselors, parents, and teachers — ways to be able to help the kids get the right care if they’re in a bad mental state,” she said.
Even though Allen brought home the crown, she remains humble as she says she feels privileged to be a role model for younger girls and teens.
“It made me so much more confident in myself because the first pageant I ever did I got up on stage and was wobbling around like Bambi in my heels and I couldn’t talk to anyone on stage because I would have a stutter in my voice so I’ve been able to really grow on that, and it’s helped me speak on stage to a bunch of people and be better in interviews and be able to walk on stage better.”
Later this year she will compete in Miss Teen USA. We wish her the best of luck and we’re so excited to cheer her on!
Photo: Reuters
Source: WVLT
