NAMES IN THE NEWS : Miss USA Advice: Get a Lawyer

Gretchen Polhemus, Miss USA 1989, has some advice for her newly crowned successor: Get a lawyer.

Polhemus said in an interview published Sunday that she was required to work 12-hour days during her reign, hadn’t received all her prizes and was denied permission to visit her sick grandmother.

Polhemus told the Wichita Eagle she considered quitting at one point.

The new Miss USA, Carole Gist, 20, of Detroit, was crowned Friday at the pageant finals in Wichita.

“I told her to get an attorney. There’s a lot of things in that contract that are unclear,” Polhemus said.

Pageant spokeswoman Sara Meza said pageant officials renegotiated Polhemus’ contract to give her more days off after she complained. Meza said the $1,300 in wardrobe expense money, $3,000 worth of airline tickets and some camera equipment will be delivered in two weeks.