Maria Montgomery – Model, Media Host, Former Miss Kentucky USA
Maria is a proud Kentuckian, originally from Danville, KY! She grew up with dreams of modeling and acting, and knew that pageantry could be a first step towards those goals. Eventually, Maria was able to accomplish that goal! She has been a full time professional model and tv host now for 15 years. Maria attributes her modeling success to pageantry.
Although she was far from a veteran competitor, she won 3 KY titles in 1 year – one being Miss Kentucky USA. This led to competing for 2 ½ weeks in Las Vegas for the title of Miss USA, owned at that time by Donald Trump. After placing in the “Top 5” as the youngest contestant, her career was launched! She signed with FORD Models, Wilhelmina Models-LA, Select Models, and various other agencies which she is still contracted with today. This brought her to live in various markets across the country, while finishing her Master’s Degree online. She then decided to come back to her family in Kentucky, where she now travels the country from for shoots. She is passionate about helping girls become the best versions of themselves through her side business, Maria Montgomery Mentoring. Through this outlet she assists girls in gaining modeling contracts, landing TV jobs, and winning pageant titles.
She has modeled for companies such as Pantene, Olay, Covergirl, Jockey, Nike, Curel, Garnier Fructis, Disney, Marchesa, various bridal designers, and more! Maria has also been spotted as the lead role in music videos for Tim McGraw, Matt Stell, Josh Groban, as a trophy model on stage at the CMAs, in numerous commercials (such as Bob Allen and UK Federal Credit Union), as the UK Men’s Basketball on-court host (go cats!), as a digital media host for SEC Network, and most recently as a host for FanDuel TV. She also collaborates with several brands on social media advertisements on Instagram!