Ada Maynor and her daughter Christan Henderson struggled with the all-important interview as the judges deemed their answers lacked depth, causing the Dallas, TX mother/daughter duo to become the seventh team eliminated from Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants during last night's broadcast of The CW reality series.

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"Whatever is meant to be is meant to be.  We did our best, we gave it our all," said Ada following her duo's ouster.  "We came here to spend time together and we were really focused on that.  It's always been a very busy life... where Christan never felt like she had that one-on-one quality time."

"I think while we've been here we've definitely learned a lot more about each other," added Christan.  "We definitely learned some things that we can use to better our relationship..."

"... and appreciate each other," said Ada.

Crowned's penultimate episode began with the five remaining teams discussing the childish departure of Angela and her daughter Tenia during the previous de-sashing ceremony, as they ran from the stage without cutting their sashes or saying goodbye. 

Of course cattiness ensued for no real reason at all and an argument erupted between Chandler, AZ daughter Rachelle and Nashville, TN daughter Laura, who have been butting heads in recent weeks.

The five remaining duos then met with the show's pageant director Linnea Maloney, who informed them to dress in casual rehearsal clothes.  They then traveled to a dance studio to practice the opening number for the finale pageant, which was two weeks away.  As they entered the dance studio, the girls were pleased to be reunited with the six previously eliminated duos.

Once dance practice was over the girls said goodbye to the previously eliminated teams and returned to the house, where Linnea explained that Crowned's final reward challenge would have them hosting a cocktail party, organizing everything from food to decorations.

The teams performances would be judged by "some very important VIPS," who would attend the cocktail party and base their decision on contribution to the party, physical appearance and social grace.

The girls got to work and Fort Worth, TX mom Gina -- who is competing with her daughter Hollis -- immediately took a leadership role since she has catering experience.  Once the house's backyard was set-up for the party, the teams found themselves in the kitchen fixing different dishes for their guests.

Donning their best outfits, the teams anxiously awaited for their guests and were relieved when they were revealed to be the men in their lives, including husbands, boyfriends, best friends and brothers. 

Everybody seemed to have a good time before the guys were forced to deliberate about who did best, with each unable to pick their own loved ones.  Duarte, CA mother/daughter duo Moya and Jenileigh were named the winners.

While previous reward challenges have had the winners choosing from a platter of wrapped boxes -- some of which contain nothing while others contained "jewels" -- there was no trick to this one, as Moya and Jenileigh received a weekend retreat to a Las Vegas spa. 

Before the guys left, Laura's mom Patty got sick and threw-up after drinking too much wine, which embarrassed Laura -- while Gina made-out with her boyfriend, embarrassing Hollis.

The next morning the teams met Linnea, and she explained the rules for the seventh and final de-sashing challenge.  Each duo would face an "intense interview," with various questions being asked by Crowned's three judges --  former Miss USA, Dancing with the Stars third-season celebrity participant and Meet the Barkers co-star Shanna Moakler; former Queer Eye fashion expert Carson Kressley; and television personality Cynthia Garrett.

The teams would be judged on poise, the quality of their answers, and teamwork.  All of the teams started studying and tried to organize their thoughts, opinions, and positions on various issues.  Christan struggled to express herself in words, which wasn't surprising since the same thing occurred during the previous de-sashing challenge, which put her and Ada in the bottom two.

"She's got it in her mind what she wants to say," said Ada.  "But then when she presents it out of her mouth it comes out different than what she's really trying to say and she gets frustrated with that."

Ada suggested Christan "really listen to the question, take a second to think about it, and then just answer it."

"I'm just shocked that we made it this far and it is a possibility that me and my mom can win," said Christan.  "But I don't want to set my standards so high and then not get it, because then I'll just be devastated."

The five teams then arrived for Crowned's final de-sashing ceremony, which would determine the four mother/daughter duos who would compete during the finale pageant for the $100,000 grand prize. 

The judges mostly asked each team the same questions during the interviews, and topics ranged from what types of qualities they'd like to acquire from each other to which remaining duo they don't think deserves to make the finale.

Cynthia thought Rachelle and Mindy -- who both have previous pageant experience -- were poised and gave great answers, and were also "diplomatic" when they decided to not single out a specific team who shouldn't make it to the finale.

Christan and Ada had problems from the start, as Ada said she wouldn't mind acquiring Christan's dark hair -- a seemingly superficial answer -- while Christan had no problem singling out Jenileigh and Moya as not deserving to make it to the finale.  Cynthia thought the interview answers lacked substance while Carson added Ada had opened up a bit but he still thought Christan's personality wasn't coming across.

"I don't know how it went," said Christan.  "I'm going to be really sad if we get eliminated because we have made it a long ways... I don't know what to think at this point."

After Gina and Hollis were "solid," which Cynthia said she's come to expect from the duo, Laura and Patty leapt at the chance to bash Gina and Hollis during their interview.  Laura said the two were "putting on a facade" for the judges.  They also took aim at each other when describing generational differences.  Shanna characterized Laura and Patty as "aggressive and harsh."

Jenileigh and Moya went last, and while they gave good answers, the judges were hoping they would have elaborated more and not been so brief.

The judges then deliberated before revealing Gina and Hollis were the highest-scoring duo for the second consecutive week, and Shanna added it was because they "were a perfect 10" and have "flawless" interviewing skills.  Shanna then revealed Christian and Ada and Laura and Patty were the two lowest scoring teams.

Shanna said she loves Laura and Patty's honesty, but added sometimes "it comes across angry and aggressive."  Carson agreed, and Cynthia questioned their trustworthiness in a situation where someone's asking questions and they have to represent the pageant.

Shanna said Ada and Christan came across as "very nervous" and because of that, she couldn't get a sense of their personalities.  Carson added the judges weren't getting the "depth" of the answers they wanted to hear.

"We've got to put whoever wears the crown in 101 situations and sort of know that they represent moms and daughters across the country and know what they're going to say at any moment," said Cynthia.  "You guys definitely struggle with that."

Ada and Christan were then eliminated.

"It's not an ending, it's a beginning," said Ada.  "Sure we ended the contest, but it's a new beginning for us."

Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants' finale will air Wednesday, January 30 at 8PM ET/PT on The CW.


About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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