Miss USA has crowned a new winner. Miss Kentucky Elle Smith, a broadcast news reporter for WHAS-TV in Louisville, took home the title of Miss USA 2021 at the annual pageant Monday night at the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to the pageant, Smith reflected on her journey from Miss USA viewer to competitor. "A little over a year ago, I sat in bed and watched Miss USA," she wrote in a Nov. 14 Instagram post. "I remember watching (Miss New York Andreia Gibau), (Miss Ohio Sthephanie Marie Miranda), (Miss Louisiana Mariah Clayton) and so many more incredible women grace the stage, and thinking, 'I want to be on that stage. I want to be like them.' Crazy to think this is my official Miss USA headshot and I made that dream reality." She will go on to represent the U.S. at the 2021 Miss Universe pageant, scheduled for Dec. 12 in Eilat, Israel.