Shandi Finnessey pictures
Shandi Ren Finnessey was born on June 9, 1978 in Florissant, Missouri, U.S., and became Miss America in 2004. She is a beauty queen, model and television hostess.
She had previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss America where she won a preliminary award.
During the most watched Miss USA competition in six years, Shandi Finnessey was crowned Miss USA 2004 in the famed Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA before a live audience of 13 million viewers.
Shandi spent her year championing the official causes of MISS USA, which are breast and ovarian cancer education, research, and legislation. She traveled nationally and abroad as an advocate for organizations such as the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and Gilda’s Club, among others.
Shandi Finnessey is an honors graduate from Lindenwood University where she received a BS in Psychology, which she completed in only three and a half years.
Shandi can currently be seen on GSN, the Network for Games, co-hosting its highest rated game show, Lingo, with Chuck Woolery, as well as hosting the late night live game show Playmania.++
In 2002, Finnessey authored a children’s book, The Furrtails, which helps children appreciate individuality and understand their peers who have disabilities. She became Chuck Woolery’s co-host on the game show Lingo in August 2005 at the start of the show’s fourth season.
Finnessey graduated from Incarnate Word Academy in 1996 and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Lindenwood University in 1999.
Finnessey first competed in the Miss Missouri USA 2000 pageant in 1999 where she finished first runner-up. She competed the following year and placed second runner-up to Larissa Meek in the 2001 event.
In 2002, Finnessey won the Miss St. Louis Metro local title in the Miss Missouri system and went on to win the Miss Missouri title.
Less than a year after giving up her title, Finnessey won the Miss Missouri USA pageant on her third attempt.
As Miss USA Finnessey went on to represent the United States at the international Miss Universe competition held in Quito, Ecuador in May 2004.
During her reign as Miss USA, Finnessey became an advocate for breast cancer and ovarian cancer awareness and research.
Finnessey provided color commentary at the Miss USA 2005 pageant, where she was the outgoing titleholder. On July 23, 2006 she also co-hosted the Miss Universe 2006 Pageant live from Los Angeles, California as a commentator with Carson Kressley.
After completing her reign as Miss USA, Finnessey became a co-host of Lingo and PlayMania on GSN. Her GSN career continued to flourish until late 2007 and early 2008 when both her shows stopped filming.
On March 19, 2007, Finnessey debuted on the fourth season of Dancing with the Stars.
On October 31, 2007, she appeared as a guest celebrity on NBC’s Phenomenon. She is currently the host of Hollywood Fast Track, a web based show about movies, music, and trends in Hollywood.
Dedicated to helping children and people with disabilities, she works to promote inclusion of individuals with mental challenges.
