Lynnette Cole Biography

Lynnette Cole-O'Nan (born February 9, 1978), won the title Miss Tennessee USA in 2000. She went on to become the first woman from that state to win the Miss USA pageant, which was held in Branson, Missouri on February 4, 2000.

Cole hails from Columbia, Tennessee and was twenty-one years old when she won the national crown.

Family background

Cole is of Puerto Rican heritage. At ten months old, she was living in foster care with her older brother when they were adopted by Gail and Larry Cole, who had to move interstate to circumvent a law prohibiting adoption of children from a different race. Her adoptive parents had previously been foster parents to a succession of over 100 children.

Pageants

Cole's first major pageant win came in 1995 when she won the title Miss Tennessee Teen USA. She was a top six finalist at the Miss Teen USA pageant in that year, and won the Miss Photogenic award, finishing fourth overall. Cole would later win the 1997 Miss Teen All American title.

After winning Miss Tennessee USA and Miss USA 2000, Cole went on to compete at the Miss Universe pageant, held in Nicosia, Cyprus later that year. Her performance was enough to secure her a spot among the five finalists, and brought the U.S. back into the semifinals (after Kimberly Pressler had failed to advance the year before, breaking a streak of consecutive placements that had been going since 1977). She also placed fifth overall. She became the first woman to place in the top five at all three pageants and her record was not surpassed until 2006 by Tara Conner.

As Miss USA, Cole was a representative of the Miss Universe Organization. Her "sister" 2000 titleholders were Lara Dutta (Miss Universe, of India) and Jillian Parry (Miss Teen USA, of Pennsylvania)

After the Crown

Since winning Miss USA, Cole has become a television host for NBC, CMT, ESPN, MTV, VH-1 and made many appearances on As the World Turns. Along with her hosting career, she has appeared in numerous print advertising campaigns and commercials.

Cole married Michael O'Nan of Tampa, and is now in the import/export business. Directs a local preliminary for Miss Tennessee USA.