Showbiz News

Miss Teen USA 2020 is Fil-Am Ki'ilani Arruda

By Bong Godinez

Filipino-American Ki'ilani Arruda is the new Miss Teen USA 2020.

The teenager from Hawaii won the title on Saturday, November 7 (U.S. time), at the pageant's finale in Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee.

The event adhered to social distancing protocols and even saw the candidates wearing black facemasks at the tail end of the program.

Ki'ilani, 19, becomes only the second representative from Hawaii to win the competition.

Winning first runner-up is Miss Oregon Shayla Montgomery, followed by second-runner up Miss Georgia Shayla Jackson.

Ki'ilani currently studies as a freshman at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She is taking up molecular and cellular biology and dreams of becoming a dermatologist.

"Well, of course, this global pandemic is very unprecedented and has taught me a lot about life,” she said during the question-and-answer segment.

"For me, it has especially taught me how to appreciate my family. I got to spend so much time with my family, my little sister, my little brother. I love them dearly, and I know that soon, in spring, I will be going into college, and I won't have those precious moments to share with them.”