Pageantry

Mary Ann Mobley -- one of the first Miss America winners to make it big in show business -- died on Tuesday in Beverly Hills after a long battle with breast cancer.

Mobley won the 1959 Miss America pageant before breaking into Hollywood. She appeared in several big movies in the '60s ... including "Girl Happy" and "Harum Scarum" with Elvis Presley.

In 1967, Mary Ann married actor and TV host Gary Collins ... who passed away in 2012.

She went on to star in tons of TV shows through the '70s and '80s -- among them ... "Love, American Style," "Fantasy Island," "Diff'rent Strokes," and "Hotel."

Mobley was also famous for her humanitarian work with children in Cambodia, Ethiopia, and the Sudan.

Mary Ann's family says she will buried next week in her native Mississippi. She was 75.

Miss USA has a helluva way to deal with creepy weirdos who try to get too touchy-feely with her -- SHE BEATS THEIR ASSES!!

Turns out Nia Sanchez -- the reigning Miss USA -- happens to be a 4th degree black belt in taekwondo ... who trained for more than 10 years!!

And when we saw her out leaving Cipriani Wall Street in NY this weekend -- she demonstrated how she uses her training when some guys try to get a little too close. She's kind of a bad ass.

Don't worry, the guy in the video isn't one of the creepers Nia's talking about, he happens to be her good friend.

Miss USA Nia Sanchez ... who famously couldn't name the capital city of Nevada -- even though she competed as Miss Nevada -- paid her first official visit Wednesday to, um, that place.

The brunette beauty traveled to Carson City to meet with Mayor Bob Crowell … who diplomatically neglected to mention Nia's faux pas.

Sanchez caught some heat for competing in Miss NV, even though she grew up in Cali -- classic carpetbaggery -- and she only made matters worse when she wasn't able to name Nevada's capital.

Sources close to Nia tell us … she purposely made Carson City her first stop on her Nevada apology homecoming tour … since winning the Miss USA crown last month.

Miss America says she's too old, but the Delaware beauty queen who got stripped of her title is about to get a shot at another crown -- with the Donald Trump owned Miss USA pageant.

The people over at Miss USA -- the one with hotter contestants, generally -- tell TMZ they're inviting
Amanda Longacre to enter their competition for the Delaware crown later this year.

You probably heard ... Amanda was dethroned as Miss Delaware for the Miss America org last month for being too old for their competition ... she turns an ancient 25 in October.

Reps for Miss USA tell us Amanda came on their radar because angry pageant fans have bombarded them with emails and phone calls -- incorrectly thinking they took Longacre's crown. Miss USA's website now has a message urging fans to bitch at the real villain ... Miss America.

For the record -- Miss USA contestants can be up to 27, so Amanda's good to go in that department.

No word yet on if she'll take another run at the crown.

Nia Sanchez is only going to anger pageant fanatics more with this video ... because during a simple radio interview this morning, she couldn't even name the capital of her supposed "home state."

First, some background -- Sanchez won Miss USA after being Miss Nevada, but really she lived most of her life in California and even competed in Miss California three times ... losing each time.

So this morning on "The Todd Show" on 95.5 WPLJ in NYC ... Sanchez completely whiffed when asked about the capital of Nevada ... and possibly also insulted Carson Daly.

Miss USA 2014 is a total knockout.

Turns out 24-year-old Nia Sanchez -- who won the title over the weekend -- can put you in a coma if you cross the line uninvited ... cause she has a fourth-degree black belt in tae kwon do (see below).

During the competition, Sanchez brought up her martial arts training twice during interviews, which she began practicing when she was 8.

Sparring partners ... take a number.

Manny Ramirez should be ASHAMED of himself ... not just because he cheated and destroyed his baseball career ... but because he made Miss Dominican Republic REALLY SAD!!!

Miss D.M. Bobbi Dean was leaving the Queen of the Universe Pageant in L.A. this weekend when we asked how she felt when the Dominican-born baseball star was busted for performance enhancing drugs.

"I like to think of our people as very honest," Dean said ... "it was a little disappointing to find out that he wasn't as honest as we would've hoped."

It's every guy's fantasy -- running into a hot beauty pageant chick like Miss Indonesia -- followed by every most guys' nightmare ... watching that chick cross her legs and talk about a "tuck."

Probably a good time to brush up on some Indonesia stuff.

A Venezuelan soap star and her ex-husband were shot to death by a roving band of highway robbers -- but amazingly ... police say the couple's young daughter survived the attack.

Monica Spear -- Miss Venezuela 2004 -- and Henry Thomas Berry were shot and killed after their car broke down near the town of Puerto Cabello in Venezuela.

Police say the family was waiting for a tow truck when the bandits showed up. Spear and Berry locked themselves and their 5-year-old daughter inside the car ... but police say the robbers opened fire, killing them and injuring the girl -- who's hospitalized with a bullet wound to her leg.

The family lived in the U.S., but were on vacation when they were attacked.

Venezuela has one of the world's highest murder rates. According to news reports, violent crime is so bad ... even residents are afraid to venture out at night.

The Miss Universe Organization is rife with sexual predators and deviants who prey on unsuspecting young women ... so says a pageant hopeful who claims a recruiter tried to dupe her into sex in a parking lot.

Ashleigh Blake filed a suit today against MUO over her run-in with a guy she claims promised to land her modeling jobs and magazine covers. In the lawsuit ... Blake says she met him in his car in a Starbucks parking lot ... where he explained the terms of an "oral" contract (her double entendre, not ours).

Specifically ... Blake claims he wanted oral sex in exchange for fast-tracking her to the top of the modeling world.

In the docs, Blake says she burst into tears and ran from the car. She says she went to the cops ... and was told she couldn't file criminal charges because the recruiter didn't force her to perform the sex act.

So ... she's suing the Miss Universe Organization ... claiming it knowingly hires "scam artists" who lure naive women with false promises of modeling contracts and fame.

Blake's looking for at least $200K in damages.

The Miss Universe Organization believes the show must go on in Moscow ... and it doesn't matter that the Russian government is gay-hostile.

A rep from the MUO tells us the new, anti-gay law violates the core values of the organization ... nevertheless, they want to stay put in Moscow. They say they're hoping to change Russian minds. Good luck with that.

Here's the rub. If some of the women competing are lesbians, they better keep it to themselves, because they could end up in the pokey if they play their hand publicly.

Beauty queens and nudie pics go together like Farrah Abraham and porn ... the latest example, a photo of Miss Alabama flashing her giant knockers -- which is being shopped to the highest bidder.

Our sources tell us ... someone is hocking a pic of Madeline Mitchell, who repped Alabama in the 2011 Miss USA pageant. At the time she was known as the hot chick who was in a horrific car crash.

As for the pic -- we've seen it. It's a selfie and she's topless -- showing off her HUGE southern melons -- smiling from ear to ear. Her hoo ha is covered.

It's unclear how the seller got the pic ...or if there have been any offers.

"Big Brother" contestant GinaMarie Zimmerman is gonna have a rude awakening when she leaves the house -- she's been FIRED from her day job after dropping the N-bomb.

TMZ has learned ... East Coast USA Pageant, Inc. is cutting ties with the 32-year-old pageant coordinator ... claiming they were shocked GZ could "display such acts of hate and racism."

As we previously reported, GinaMarie referred to welfare as "n**ger insurance" ... and the comments were captured on "Big Brother's" uncensored live Internet feed.

East Coast USA says GinaMarie has been an employee for 5 years -- but insist, "We have never known this side of GinaMarie or have ever witnessed such acts of racism in the past."

The pageant says, "We are actually thankful that this show let us see GinaMarie for who she truly is. We would never want her to be a role model to our future contestants."

"In a business where we are surrounded by beauty every day we are saddened to see something so ugly come from someone we put on a very high pedestal."

Chris Brown just learned that ole saying -- mess with Miss Russian L.A. ... get charged with hit-and-run. Or something like that.

Anyway, CB's screwed after a fender bender with the chick.

After winning the Miss USA crown Erin Brady did what any starving beauty queen would do -- EAT ... well, kinda.

Our beauty queen spies tell TMZ ... Erin keeps her body right and tight by eating healthy (like all the time) ... which is why the 25-year-old noshed on a beet salad and spicy tuna on crispy rice as her first post-pageant meal.

Gorging on a burger didn't even cross Erin's mind ... she's a sweet over salty person. But the one thing she is craving: a hot fudge sundae, with ALL the toppings ... but for now, that's just unrequited love.

She already (kinda) redeemed herself for that infamous pageant flub -- so yesterday, we decided to pelt the beautiful Miss Utah with some brain-twisting riddles instead ... and she actually did pretty damn well.

21-year-old Marissa Powell had just touched down in L.A. for her appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" -- and while she was at the airport, we asked her a bunch of questions to test her wits on the fly ... such as the classic "Who is buried in Grant's tomb?" and "What can you put in a bucket of water to make it lighter?"

She doesn't exactly get them right, but she doesn't exactly get them wrong either. Then again, she could probably say anything and we'd be happy.