Sara Hoots will represent Hooters for 1 year after taking home the $50,000 grand prize
Sara Hoots, a Hooters Girl in Selma, TX a city right outside of San Antonio, will
return to her hometown $50,000 richer after being crowned Miss Hooters
International 2008 tonight at the 12th Annual Hooters International Swimsuit
Pageant. She was selected from 128 Hooters Girl contestants that traveled from
as far as Shanghai to represent the 446 Hooters restaurants around the world.
From evening gowns to swimsuits, the contestants was judged by a distinguished
celebrity panel including Actor, D.B. Sweeney; Miami Heat Point Guard, Gary
Payton; IndyCar racer, Helio Castroneves; E! Entertainment Host, Michael Yo;
ESPN's "Stump the Schwab", Howie Schwab; Professional Golfer, John Daly; NBA
Player and Best Damn Sports Show Period co-host, John Salley and Top Fuel
Dragster, Brandon Bernstein. For the second year in a row Sports Announcer and
host of Fox Sports Net Best Damn Sports Show Period, Chris Rose, hosted the
pageant.
Along with the cash and crown Sara Hoots also brings home the responsibility to
represent the concept as the quintessential Hooters Girl - the cheerleader, girl
next door. "The judges had a tough job this year, every contestant was
gorgeous," stated Beth Taylor, Pageant Director for Hooters. "But we couldn't
have picked a better winner. Given her name and genuine personality, Sara was
destined to take home the crown," stated Beth Taylor, Pageant Director.
In addition to the winner, there were 4 top finalists, all of whom will take home
prizes. Heather Brady, representing Killeen, TX was first runner up and received
$15,000 in cash plus prizes; Nesie Daglis who represented Downtown Atlanta took
home $10,000 was second runner up and in third place was Vanessa Ferbeyre, Miss
Miami took home $8,000. Serina Snelling, representing Hampton, VA was the 4th
place runner up and receives $7,000. Finishing out the top 10 finalists in no
particular order are Nikki Longtin, from Lakeland, FL; LeAnglea David,
representing Columbus, OH; Brittany Johnson of Johnson City, TN; Amanda Murphy
from Murfreesboro, TN and Marie Butler who represented the Original Hooters of
Clearwater, from St. Petersburg, FL.
Ms. Congeniality was voted for by the contestants themselves and was won by Emma
Cam of Australia, and a Ms. Photogenic award which includes a professional photo
shoot valued at $5,000 went to Sarah Barret of Lafayette, IN. In recognition of
the chain's international expansion, a Miss Hooters World was given to Suzie Fu
representing Beijing, China.
The pageant was held at the Broward Theatre for the Performing Arts in Fort
Lauderdale, FL and was broadcast live to all Hooters restaurants across the
country. During the show, Hooters Girl, Stormie Hawkins from Peoria, IL was
awarded the Viewer's Choice Award by receiving the majority of over 130,000 text
votes that were cast during the contest.