Most pageant winners spend years on the state circuit before they ever reach the national stage — if they reach it at all. Elle Smith didn’t just reach it in 2021; she won Miss USA 2021 as a 23-year-old, and that single milestone — recorded by her alma mater’s University of Kentucky alumni profile — launched a Kentucky TV reporter into a story of crown, career, and unanswered questions.
Born: June 20, 1998 ·
Birthplace: Springfield, Ohio, USA ·
Height: 5’10” (178 cm) ·
Title: Miss USA 2021 ·
Occupation: Model, Reporter ·
Agency: The Source Models
Quick snapshot
- Won Miss USA 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Wikipedia (Miss USA 2021))
- Born and raised in Springfield, Ohio (WHIO (Dayton broadcaster))
- Graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2020 (University of Kentucky alumni profile)
- Ethnicity and family background — not part of any official bio
- Relationship status — speculation links her to footballer Leah Williamson; no confirmation from either side
- Next career move — not yet announced
- 2021 — Miss Kentucky USA and Miss USA in the same year: a double that made her the second Miss Kentucky winner to take the national title (Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky newspaper))
- 2022 — Music-video credit for Jack Harlow’s “Churchill Downs” (IMDb (film credits database))
- 2024 onward — Active social media presence keeps her in public view (Instagram (her official feed))
- Watch her social channels — new projects and appearances are posted on Instagram and TikTok
- The next announcement will almost certainly break there first (Instagram (her official feed))
The pattern: the facts about Smith are easy to verify; the open questions are where the rumors start.
Elle Smith at a glance
Six facts, one pattern: the public record on Smith is consistent about her résumé and quiet about her private life.
| Field | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elle Smith | Wikipedia (Miss USA 2021) |
| Date of birth | June 20, 1998 | Famous Birthdays (celebrity database) |
| Place of birth | Springfield, Ohio, USA | WHIO (Dayton broadcaster) |
| Height | 5’10” (178 cm) | The Source Models (London modeling agency) |
| Title | Miss USA 2021 | Miss USA (official pageant site) |
| Modeling agency | The Source Models | The Source Models (women’s board) |
Why this matters: anyone can confirm what Smith has done — the open questions are about who she is off the clock.
How old is Elle Smith?
Public records agree on this one: Famous Birthdays (celebrity database) lists her birthday as June 20, 1998, which makes her 26 as of 2025. She was 23 when she won Miss USA in late 2021.
The pattern: her age has never been a mystery — which makes the parts of her life that aren’t public stand out even more.
What is Elle Smith’s real name?
Elle Smith is the name she has used in every public setting. Her IMDb (film credits database) page lists her acting credit under that name, and the pageant results, news reports, and agency profiles cited throughout this article all refer to her the same way — no stage name, no alias, no hyphen.
What this means: with Smith, the name you see is the name she works under — the more interesting questions are about what she does next, not what she calls herself.
When is Elle Smith’s birthday?
June 20, 1998, according to Famous Birthdays (celebrity database). A mid-year birthday means she was still 23 when she won in 2021 — and 26 by 2025.
The pattern: every age number attached to Smith traces back to this single birth date — the one personal detail that sources don’t dispute.
How did Elle Smith win Miss USA?
Smith’s pageant career has an unusual shape: it started and peaked in the same calendar year. She won Miss Kentucky USA in 2021 — her first pageant ever, NHPR (public radio network) reported — and then took the national title on November 29, 2021, at the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which the University of Kentucky alumni profile identifies as the 70th Miss USA competition.
Smith had zero pageant experience before 2021 — and won a state crown and a national crown in the same calendar year, on her first attempt at either.
What is Miss USA 2021?
Miss USA is the U.S. national pageant whose winner advances to Miss Universe — meaning Smith’s national title put her on a global stage that few local TV reporters ever reach.
The Kentucky win alone carried historical weight. The Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky newspaper) noted that Smith became the second Miss Kentucky USA to win Miss USA, after Tara Conner in 2006. Black America Web (Black news outlet) reported that her win made her the third consecutive Black woman to take the title, following Cheslie Kryst and Asya Branch.
The pattern: Smith’s win stacked milestones — a state first, a national first, and a historic streak — and each one gave the press a fresh reason to tell her story.
The implication: Smith’s trajectory from first pageant to national winner in under a year is the rare exception that proves the rule about how pageant careers typically unfold.
What is Elle Smith’s modeling career?
Smith works both sides of the camera. She trained as a broadcast journalist in college — her undergraduate résumé included reporting for the UK Student News Network and video work for UK Athletics and the SEC Network, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky newspaper) — and she later held an on-air reporting job in Louisville, as the timeline below shows.
Who represents Elle Smith as a model?
- Smith is represented by The Source Models (London modeling agency), whose women’s-board profile for her lists a height of 5’10” and measurements of 34″–26″–37.5″ (bust–waist–hips).
A national title is a career accelerant, but it’s also a second full-time job. Smith’s Miss USA year overlapped with her first year in TV news — two demanding entry-level careers running in parallel.
Her path into media started even earlier. According to KRNL Magazine (University of Kentucky student publication), her internships took her to Arkansas, Washington, D.C., and Kentucky media organizations; Black America Web (Black news outlet) adds that she studied abroad in Florence, Italy.
What this means: her modeling profile is the most current public record of her professional look — agency, height, and measurements all in one place.
Elle Smith’s timeline so far
Six checkpoints, one pattern: each chapter has taken Smith further from her Ohio roots.
| Year | Milestone | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Born in Springfield, Ohio | WHIO (Dayton broadcaster) |
| 2020 | Graduated from the University of Kentucky; joined WHAS-TV in Louisville as a multimedia journalist | University of Kentucky alumni profile; NHPR (public radio network) |
| Nov 2021 | Crowned Miss USA 2021 at River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma | Wikipedia (Miss USA 2021) |
| 2022 | Appeared in the “Churchill Downs” music video (Jack Harlow feat. Drake) | IMDb (film credits database) |
| Present | Active on TikTok; social media remains her main public channel | TikTok (official profile) |
What this means: Smith’s timeline is short but dense — the gap between her first pageant and her national crown was under a year, which is why her story reads as a breakout, not a long climb.
What’s confirmed and what’s still unclear
Confirmed facts
- Birthday, birthplace, and height — June 20, 1998; Springfield, Ohio; 5’10” — all listed in the key facts table above with named sources.
- Miss USA 2021 win on November 29, 2021, in Tulsa, Oklahoma — recorded by the University of Kentucky alumni profile and Wikipedia’s Miss USA 2021 article.
- University of Kentucky degree (2020) and the WHAS-TV reporting job that followed — documented by the university and NHPR.
- Modeling representation at The Source Models, with measurements on her agency profile.
What’s unclear
- Ethnicity and family background — not mentioned in any of the profiles reviewed for this article.
- Relationship status — online speculation links her to footballer Leah Williamson; neither she nor Williamson has publicly addressed it, and no official bio names a partner. The related profile on her biography covers the rumor in more depth.
- Current city of residence — London is implied by her agency’s base, but she has not announced a move.
- Post-reign career plans — no formal announcement beyond continued modeling and social media activity.
The trade-off: the same reserve that keeps her private life out of official bios also feeds the rumor mill — which is exactly why the confirmed list above is the one worth trusting.
The moments that framed her win
A Miss USA’s job is to connect with people.
— Elle Smith, in her NHPR interview (public radio network)
Kentucky journalist Elle Smith: 3rd Black woman in a row crowned Miss USA.
— Headline, Black America Web (Black news outlet)
The through-line: from Smith’s own words to the headlines that followed, the same image keeps emerging — a journalist who won a crown, not a celebrity who tried on journalism.
The takeaway
Smith’s story is still mid-chapter: the crown arrived early, the career is still building, and her social media feed is the closest thing to an official announcement channel. What’s already clear is that she built a national platform on a local-news foundation and hasn’t left that foundation behind. For a young journalist or a first-time pageant hopeful in a small market, the implication is clear: the stage you think you don’t belong on is closer than it looks — but only if you step onto it.
Frequently asked questions
How tall is Elle Smith?
5’10” (178 cm) — the same figure listed in her modeling portfolio at The Source Models, as shown in the key facts table above.
What are Elle Smith’s measurements?
34″–26″–37.5″ (bust–waist–hips), as listed on her agency profile.
What is Elle Smith’s occupation?
Model and reporter. She joined Louisville’s WHAS-TV in October 2020 as a multimedia journalist and models through The Source Models.
Where was Elle Smith born?
Springfield, Ohio, where she was raised and graduated from Shawnee High School.
When was Elle Smith born?
June 20, 1998.
What is Elle Smith’s connection to Miss USA?
She won Miss Kentucky USA in 2021, then Miss USA 2021 on November 29, 2021, in Tulsa, Oklahoma — the 70th Miss USA competition.
Where can I find Elle Smith’s modeling portfolio?
Her profile is listed on the women’s board at The Source Models, a London-based modeling agency.
Is Elle Smith active on social media?
Yes — she posts on Instagram and TikTok, and her TikTok handle is @officialellesmith.
The short version: the measurable facts about Smith are consistent across her university, news, pageant, and agency sources — everything else should be treated as unconfirmed until she says otherwise.
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George Thompson is Senior Reporter at UrbanMixr.uk, covering breaking culture, lifestyle and general news stories across the UK.