Tara Elizabeth Conner (born December 18, 1985) is an American model, television personality, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2006 and has also competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe pageants. Apart from her role as Miss USA, Conner has been employed as a model. She was a featured model on the HDNet series Bikini Destinations in 2004, posing in Lake Tahoe. She has also held the titles Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2002, Miss Kentucky County Fair 2004, and Miss Kentucky USA 2006. In late 2006, Conner became the center of a public scandal after she was caught drinking underage, using cocaine, and kissing Miss Teen USA Katie Blair at a New York nightclub. She was allowed to retain her title, provided she enter a drug rehabilitation program. Since then Conner has worked as an advocate against drug addiction. Early life Tara was born in Dallas, Texas to Brenda (who worked for Fruit of the Loom) and John Conner. She has one brother Josh, who was born in 1984. Tara's Reign, Her family moved to Russell Springs, Kentucky when she was six weeks old. Tara Conner stated that she started resorting to drugs at the age of 14, when her parents separated from each other and her grandfather died. Conner graduated from Russell County High School in 2004, and at the time of her Miss USA win was studying for a degree in business administration from Somerset Community College. Following her success in the Miss Teen USA pageant, Conner was managed by agent Steve Rosenberg for six months and has modeled for companies such as Body Glove. Beauty pageants Miss Teen USA 2002 Conner won the Miss Kentucky Teen USA title in 2001. In August 2002, she went on to compete in the Miss Teen USA pageant held in South Padre Island, Texas. After making the first cut, Conner achieved the highest swimsuit score (9.18) among the 10 semi-finalists and had the fifth highest evening gown score (8.79). The average of these two scores placed her second overall after these two phases of competition. She eventually placed second Runner-up to Vanessa Semrow of Wisconsin. Conner's placement equaled that of Kristen Johnson as the second highest by any delegate representing Kentucky at the pageant. Miss Kentucky USA 2006 Conner returned to pageantry in November 2005 when she won the Miss Kentucky USA crown, and was crowned