Singer’s Kin ‘Least Liked Girl,’ Loser Says : Did Miss America ‘Cash In’ on Name?

A loser in the Miss America contest says winner Kellye Cash cashed in on her name, was the “least liked girl around” but won because she fitted the “country” image the judges were seeking.

“The judges were looking for a different type of girl than I am,” Molly Pesce, Miss Florida, told the Orlando Sentinel in today’s editions. “They wanted a sweet kind of nonaggressive Southern belle.”

Commenting the day after Miss Tennessee’s victory in the Atlantic City, N.J., pageant Saturday night, Pesce, 23, said losing the talent preliminary to Cash was “the ultimate humiliation” because performing is Pesce’s profession.

Pesce, who failed to make the semifinals, said her biggest fear was returning home to find people pitying her for being a loser.

“They weren’t there so they don’t understand I couldn’t be too devastated because the judges apparently wanted ‘country,’ ” she said. “All those girls in the top 10 were alike.”

Miss Michigan was the only semifinalist from north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Pesce said having a famous name also didn’t hurt Cash, a grandniece of country singer Johnny Cash.

Pesce echoed sentiments of other contestants that Kellye cashed in on her name. Pesce said one gymnast contestant jokingly said backstage, “My real name was Nadia Comaneci, but I changed it for the contest.”

“Honey, between you and me, that girl was the least-liked girl around,” Pesce said. “She acted like she knew she was going to win.

“About half of us went around giving everybody mementos from our states. I didn’t because I didn’t know about it but you know what she gave us all? Autographed pictures of herself. Can you imagine?”