Elle Smith: Miss USA 2021 Biography, Age, and Pageant Career

A working local TV reporter walked into her first state pageant in 2021 (University of Kentucky Alumni profile) and came out wearing the Miss USA crown months later. Elle Smith’s win at the 70th Miss USA pageant in Tulsa, reported by The Courier Journal, turned a Kentucky newcomer into a national name and set up a Top 10 finish at Miss Universe 2021 — a path that runs from Springfield, Ohio, through Louisville’s newsrooms to the business saga behind the pageant’s biggest crown.

Full name: Elle Smith ·
Born: June 20, 1998 ·
Birthplace: Springfield, Ohio ·
Height: 5 ft 10 in ·
Title: Miss USA 2021 ·
Miss Universe 2021: Top 10

Key facts at a glance

Nine profile points, one pattern: the journalism career predates the pageant fame, and the Kentucky identity anchors both.

The table makes the pattern visible: the crown is one line, while the journalism and modeling lines supply the working résumé.

Who is Elle Smith?

Elle Smith is the Kentucky titleholder who turned a single year of pageantry into a national platform. Before the sash and crown, she was a working multimedia journalist in Louisville (University of Kentucky’s journalism school) — and that background is the key to her quick rise.

Where Is Elle Smith From?

• Born June 20, 1998, in Springfield, Ohio (Wikipedia’s Elle Smith biography)
• Raised in Springfield, where she graduated from Shawnee High School in 2016, according to the same Wikipedia record
• Earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism with a political science minor from the University of Kentucky (University of Kentucky Alumni profile)
• Served as vice president of the university’s National Association of Black Journalists chapter and interned in Arkansas and Washington, D.C. (WHRO, public radio news)
• Cut her teeth in student media at the Kentucky Kernel, WRFL, and UK Student News Network (Pageants & Prosecco, pageant industry outlet)

That journalism training followed her straight into the field: after college, she joined Louisville’s WHAS-TV as a multimedia journalist covering southern Indiana (University of Kentucky’s journalism school).

What Is Elle Smith Known For?

• The Miss USA 2021 title that made her a recognizable face beyond local news (Pageants & Prosecco)
• An on-screen cameo in Jack Harlow’s “Churchill Downs” music video featuring Drake (Wikipedia’s Elle Smith biography)
• A profile that blends journalist, model, and actress credits — an unusual triple for a pageant winner

The pattern: the spotlight came from a pageant, but the credibility came from a newsroom. That combination is exactly what made her public image harder to dismiss than the average titleholder’s.

The pattern: a pageant title can make someone famous, but Smith’s newsroom training is what made the fame hold.

Was Elle Smith Miss USA?

Yes. Elle Smith was crowned Miss USA 2021 on November 29, 2021, at the 70th national pageant in Tulsa, Oklahoma (The Courier Journal).

What State Did Elle Smith Represent?

• Kentucky — she won the Miss Kentucky USA 2021 title in May 2021 (University of Kentucky’s journalism school)
• The University of Kentucky Alumni profile says Miss Kentucky USA was her first pageant (University of Kentucky Alumni profile)
• Before that, she competed as Miss Germantown USA, representing Louisville’s Germantown neighborhood (The Courier Journal)

One wrinkle in the record: the university profile calls Miss Kentucky USA her first pageant, while The Courier Journal lists the earlier Germantown local title. The simplest reading: “first pageant” refers to her first state-level final, with Miss Germantown USA serving as a local preliminary in the same system.

How Did Elle Smith Perform at Miss Universe?

• Top 10 at Miss Universe 2021, held in Eilat, Israel, in December 2021 (Wikipedia’s Elle Smith biography)
• She flew to the competition roughly two weeks after her Miss USA win (Pageants & Prosecco)

The implication: her pageant year was compressed into a single calendar year — state title, national crown, global stage — which makes the Top 10 finish more striking, not less.

The implication: her pageant career was a single sprint, not a decade-long campaign.

Who is Elle Smith’s partner?

Short answer: none is confirmed. Smith has not publicly named a partner in the coverage reviewed for this article, and her professional profiles list no spouse.

Is Elle Smith Married?

Does Elle Smith Have a Public Partner?

• No interview or profile in the sources reviewed confirms a relationship partner
• Her TikTok content since returning in early 2026 has focused on fitness and fresh starts, not romance (her official TikTok)

What this means: the public record is thin because Smith has kept her personal life private — a choice consistent with a journalist who prefers controlling the narrative.

Who are some famous celebrities named Elle?

Google “Elle” and you’ll surface several famous namesakes, including two with worldwide recognition: actress Elle Fanning and supermodel Elle Macpherson. Neither shares Smith’s pageant-to-newsroom path.

Who Is Elle Fanning?

• An American actress known for films such as “Maleficent” and the series “The Great” (Britannica’s Elle Fanning entry)
• A performer whose career began in childhood and moved between indie films and studio projects (Britannica)

Who Is Elle Macpherson?

• An Australian supermodel and businesswoman nicknamed “The Body” (Britannica’s Elle Macpherson entry)
• A brand builder who turned runway fame into commercial ventures (Britannica)

The trade-off: sharing a name with two global superstars guarantees search confusion, but it also guarantees that “Elle” already sounds like fame.

Why did Donald Trump sell Miss Universe?

Elle Smith’s Miss Universe appearance put her on a stage that Donald Trump owned for nearly two decades. Trump bought the Miss Universe Organization in 1996 and sold it in September 2015, shortly after launching his presidential campaign — a sale documented by The New York Times, national business coverage.

How Long Did Donald Trump Own Miss Universe?

• Nineteen years, from 1996 until the 2015 sale (The New York Times)
• The sale handed both the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants to the buyer as one property

Who Owns Miss Universe After Trump?

• WME-IMG (now part of Endeavor/IMG) acquired the organization in 2015 (The New York Times)
• JKN Legacy Group later acquired a controlling interest, and IMG retains a co-ownership stake (Wikipedia’s Miss Universe history)
• By the time Elle Smith competed in December 2021, the pageant had been out of Trump’s hands for six years — a fact that didn’t stop the Trump-era history from following the franchise

Did Melania Trump Compete in Miss Universe?

• Yes — Melania Knauss, later Melania Trump, represented Slovenia at Miss Universe 1992 (Wikipedia’s Melania Trump biography)
• She did not win the title, but her pageant past became part of the Trump-Miss Universe lore long before the 2016 campaign

Why this matters: every Miss USA winner steps onto a stage whose financial history affects how much the title is worth — and Smith’s year came during the ownership era that followed Trump’s exit, before JKN took over.

The catch: every crown handed out since 2015 still carries the business history Trump built and then exited.

Elle Smith’s Rise: A Timeline

One year, four milestones — from a Kentucky newsroom to the global pageant stage.

• June 20, 1998 — Born in Springfield, Ohio (Wikipedia’s Elle Smith biography)
• October 2020 — Joined WHAS-TV in Louisville as a multimedia journalist (WHRO, public radio news)
• May 2021 — Won Miss Kentucky USA 2021, the pageant that launched her national run (University of Kentucky journalism school)
• November 29, 2021 — Crowned Miss USA 2021 in Tulsa (The Courier Journal)
• December 2021 — Competed at Miss Universe 2021 in Eilat, Israel, placing Top 10 (Wikipedia’s Elle Smith biography)
• 2022 — Appeared in the “Churchill Downs” music video by Jack Harlow featuring Drake (Wikipedia’s Elle Smith biography)
• 2024 — Returned to social media with fitness and lifestyle content and was listed as a model with The Source Models (her official TikTok)
• January 2026 — Shared a fresh-start fitness video on TikTok (her official TikTok)

The arc: the journalism years came first, the pageant year came fast, and the return to public life is happening on her own terms.

What’s Confirmed, What’s Unclear

The takeaway: the confirmed record is solid on her biography and title; everything about her personal life and finances stays private until she chooses otherwise.

What the Coverage Said

The night Elle Smith won, the headlines told the whole arc — local reporter to national titleholder in one breath.

“The new Miss USA is Elle Smith, a local TV reporter from Kentucky.”

— WHRO, public radio news

“Miss Kentucky Elle Smith crowned Miss USA 2021.”

— The Courier Journal, Kentucky’s largest daily

“Elle Smith Wins Miss USA, Flies Off To Miss Universe In Two Weeks!”

— Pageants & Prosecco, pageant industry outlet

The common thread: every headline led with her journalism before her crown.

Where Elle Smith Goes From Here

Elle Smith’s crown opened doors, and her recent social return suggests she intends to walk through them as a creator and model, not just a former titleholder. The journalism skills that got her to Tulsa are still on her résumé, and her early-2026 TikTok videos signal a deliberate pivot toward fitness and lifestyle content (her official TikTok). For Elle Smith, the choice is clear: keep building the journalist-creator lane she’s been assembling since 2024, or let the Miss USA title become the whole story.

Related reading: Elle Smith: Miss USA 2021 – Biography and Trump Legacy · Elle Smith Biography: Miss USA 2021 Winner, Journalist and Model

Frequently Asked Questions

Elle Smith’s next act is happening on her own feed, and the pageant machinery that introduced her now looks like the prelude, not the headline.