Michelle Nunes, representing the Hooters Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, was selected Tuesday out of over 120 Hooters Girls from around the world to represent Hooters for the next year, as Miss Hooters International 2006.
Nunes took home the first place prize of $50,000 cash and will also be featured in Hooters Magazine, a national marketing campaigns and TV commercials for the company.
The Hooters restaurant chain hosted the 10th annual event at the Aladdin Casino & Resort Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over 120 Hooters girls who work in one of the company's 430 restaurants worldwide competed for $150,000 and prizes at the pageant.
John Salley, host of “The Best Damn Sports Show Period,” television host Brooke Burke and the New York Knicks’ Jalen Rose were among the celebrity judges.
Contestants included Hooters girls from Australia, Taiwan, Germany, Canada, Venezuela, Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala. Trisha Gledhill, representing Calgary, Canada was selected from the international contestants to represent Miss Hooters World. She received $5,000 prize.
Hooters also presented former Hooters Calendar Cover Girl, Kelly Jo Dowd, and Nick Valvano, CEO of the V Foundation for Cancer Research, with checks totaling more than $230,000. Dowd was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, while she served as a manager at Hooters. The funds were raised at Hooters locations to benefit Dowd and breast cancer awareness.
