The new Miss America said her dad sent her daily questions about current events to prepare for the pageant

For Regan Hutsell, preparing for the Miss America pageant was a family affair — and it paid off.

The former Radio City Rockette took home the crown on September 6, becoming the first Miss Texas to win the title in 51 years and the first woman of color to win while wearing her natural hair.

Hutsell sat down with Business Insider to share more about her pageant prep, revealing that her dad played a crucial role as she studied for the competition's interview round.

"My dad is my toughest interview coach," she said. "Every day, he would send me questions based on current events, and then he ended up putting them in a binder."

Hutsell's father was inspired by former Miss America Abbie Stockard, who revealed to Business Insider in January 2025 that she had made a binder with 150 political and current-event topics that she studied daily for months.

"I would be like, 'OK, I'm going to cover topics one through 20 today, and I'm going to look at statistics and formulate some talking points,'" Stockard said at the time. "I looked at it like I was studying for a test. That's the nursing student in me."

Hutsell said her dad had stumbled on the article and immediately sent it to her.

"He's like, 'I read this thing about Abbie Stockard, you have to hear it,'" she said. "That article inspired my prep."

When she wasn't practicing her dad's questions, Hutsell was also keeping up with current events by watching cable news while walking on a treadmill at her local Planet Fitness.

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