Melana Scantlin
Encyclopedia
Melana Scantlin is an American television co-host, former beauty contestant, and reality TV participant who has competed in the Miss Teen USA
and Miss USA
pageants.
Scantlin's first beauty pageant win came in 1995 when she became Miss Missouri Teen USA
. She went on to represent Missouri
in the Miss Teen USA
1995 pageant broadcast live from Wichita, Kansas
in August 1995, and placed in the semifinals. The event was won by Keylee Sue Sanders
of Kansas
. Both the Missouri and Kansas delegates were directed by the Vanbros organization.
Scantlin returned to pageantry in 1999 when she competed in the Miss Missouri USA
pageant for the first time. She placed second runner-up in the pageant, and improved that placing the following year when she was first runner-up to Larissa Meek
, another former Miss Missouri Teen USA. In 2001, Scantlin won the Miss Missouri USA
2002 title, becoming the fifth former Miss Teen USA delegate to win the title. She went on to represent Missouri
in the Miss USA 2002
pageant broadcast live from Gary, Indiana
on 2 March 2002, but failed to place.
Scantlin became widely known in 2003 a participant on the first season of the TV series Average Joe
. She was expecting to start off meeting a bunch of hunks, but was instead inundated with mostly plain-looking and/or obese
suitors. Later on in the show, three model types of men were brought in to compete against the Average Joes. She chose "pretty boy" Jason Peoples over Average Joe Adam Mesh
. After the show, Melana and Jason flew off in a private jet
for a romantic getaway. The two made the rounds of TV talk show
s, but later started seeing other people.
Scantlin was the first Miss Missouri Teen USA and Miss Missouri USA to appear on Average Joe; she was later followed by former beauty queen and reality TV star Larissa Meek
.
In 2004 she became co-host of World Series of Blackjack
. Her reality fame led to appearance on various programs, such as Days of our Lives
, 20 Most Awesomely Bad Songs of 2004, Sidewalks Entertainment
, The Wayne Brady Show
, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Live with Regis and Kelly
.
From February 13, 2004 to October 2004, Scantlin was the co-host of the Screening Room, a movie review segment which airs Fridays on WDAF-TV
in Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1993, as a teenager, she appeared in the TV movie They've Taken Our Children: The Chowchilla Kidnapping.
Scantlin graduated from Park University
in Parkville, Missouri. She is currently a spokeswoman in the university's television commercials.
Melana's seventh great-uncle is George Washington
, the first president of the United States. She is also the cousin of lead singer Wes Scantlin
from Puddle of Mudd
.
Miss Teen USA
Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. The reigning titleholder is Danielle Doty of Texas....
and Miss USA
Miss USA
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA...
pageants.
Scantlin's first beauty pageant win came in 1995 when she became Miss Missouri Teen USA
Miss Missouri Teen USA
The Miss Missouri Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Missouri in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant has been directed by Vanbros since 1993....
. She went on to represent Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
in the Miss Teen USA
Miss Teen USA
Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. The reigning titleholder is Danielle Doty of Texas....
1995 pageant broadcast live from Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
in August 1995, and placed in the semifinals. The event was won by Keylee Sue Sanders
Keylee Sue Sanders
Keylee Sue Sanders was Miss Kansas Teen USA and Miss Teen USA 1995.Sanders first won the Miss Kansas Teen USA title in late 1994. In August 1995 she was crowned Miss Teen USA in the national pageant televised live from Wichita, in her home state of Kansas...
of Kansas
Miss Kansas Teen USA
The Miss Kansas Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Kansas in the Miss Teen USA pageant.This pageant has been part of the Vanbros organisation since 1992, and in 2006 celebrated their fifteen-year anniversary with a reunion of former titleholders at...
. Both the Missouri and Kansas delegates were directed by the Vanbros organization.
Scantlin returned to pageantry in 1999 when she competed in the Miss Missouri USA
Miss Missouri USA
The Miss Missouri USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Missouri in the Miss USA pageant. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system....
pageant for the first time. She placed second runner-up in the pageant, and improved that placing the following year when she was first runner-up to Larissa Meek
Larissa Meek
Larissa Meek is a former beauty queen who has competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants and a reality television personality who starred in Average Joe: Hawaii.-Pageants:...
, another former Miss Missouri Teen USA. In 2001, Scantlin won the Miss Missouri USA
Miss Missouri USA
The Miss Missouri USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Missouri in the Miss USA pageant. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system....
2002 title, becoming the fifth former Miss Teen USA delegate to win the title. She went on to represent Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
in the Miss USA 2002
Miss USA 2002
The Miss USA 2002 pageant was held in Gary, Indiana on March 2, 2002. The event was won by Shauntay Hinton of the District of Columbia, who was crowned by outgoing queen Kandace Krueger of Texas....
pageant broadcast live from Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city is in the southeastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is 25 miles from downtown Chicago. The population is 80,294 at the 2010 census, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. It borders Lake Michigan and is known...
on 2 March 2002, but failed to place.
Scantlin became widely known in 2003 a participant on the first season of the TV series Average Joe
Average Joe
Average Joe is an American reality television show broadcast on the NBC beginning in 2003. There were a total of four seasons, the first two following the original show premise, and the last two bringing back contestants from prior seasons.-Show Premise:...
. She was expecting to start off meeting a bunch of hunks, but was instead inundated with mostly plain-looking and/or obese
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
suitors. Later on in the show, three model types of men were brought in to compete against the Average Joes. She chose "pretty boy" Jason Peoples over Average Joe Adam Mesh
Adam Mesh
Adam Mesh is an American entrepreneur, stock trader, television personality and author. He is the CEO and founder of The Adam Mesh Trading Group. Adam Mesh was first introduced to television audiences in the 2003 hit NBC show The Average Joe...
. After the show, Melana and Jason flew off in a private jet
Business jet
Business jet, private jet or, colloquially, bizjet is a term describing a jet aircraft, usually of smaller size, designed for transporting groups of up to 19 business people or wealthy individuals...
for a romantic getaway. The two made the rounds of TV talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s, but later started seeing other people.
Scantlin was the first Miss Missouri Teen USA and Miss Missouri USA to appear on Average Joe; she was later followed by former beauty queen and reality TV star Larissa Meek
Larissa Meek
Larissa Meek is a former beauty queen who has competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants and a reality television personality who starred in Average Joe: Hawaii.-Pageants:...
.
In 2004 she became co-host of World Series of Blackjack
World Series of Blackjack
The World Series of Blackjack is a televised blackjack tournament created and produced by the cable network GSN. It is a closed tournament; players are either invited to play or can attempt to win a spot via a satellite tournament. Rounds are edited into 1-hour episodes and broadcast on GSN...
. Her reality fame led to appearance on various programs, such as Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
, 20 Most Awesomely Bad Songs of 2004, Sidewalks Entertainment
Sidewalks Entertainment
Sidewalks Entertainment is a long-running, weekly American television series that is a combination of a talk show, magazine show and variety show featuring celebrity interviews, music, artistic and novelty acts, and rising performers...
, The Wayne Brady Show
The Wayne Brady Show
The Wayne Brady Show was a variety show hosted by Wayne Brady that originally ran from August 8, 2001 to March 11, 2002 on ABC. Due to low ratings, the show was cancelled by ABC and reformatted into a daytime variety talk show for syndication...
, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
.
From February 13, 2004 to October 2004, Scantlin was the co-host of the Screening Room, a movie review segment which airs Fridays on WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV, virtual channel 4.1, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Its studios and transmitter are located in the Signal Hill...
in Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1993, as a teenager, she appeared in the TV movie They've Taken Our Children: The Chowchilla Kidnapping.
Scantlin graduated from Park University
Park University
Park University is an independent, private institution of higher education based in Parkville, Missouri. Established in 1875 as a small church-related college, it has now expanded into an electronic learning institution and provider of education courses for the U.S...
in Parkville, Missouri. She is currently a spokeswoman in the university's television commercials.
Melana's seventh great-uncle is George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, the first president of the United States. She is also the cousin of lead singer Wes Scantlin
Wes Scantlin
Wesley Reid Scantlin is a songwriter, lead singer, guitarist and the only remaining founding member of the American post-grunge band Puddle of Mudd....
from Puddle of Mudd
Puddle of Mudd
Puddle Of Mudd is an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. To date the band has sold over 7 million albums, and have had a string of #1 mainstream rock singles in the United States. Their major-label debut Come Clean has sold over 5 million copies...
.