Lauren Nelson

Lauren Paige Nelson was born on November 26, 1986, in Lawton, Oklahoma. She is a beauty queen best known for winning the title of Miss America 2007. Nelson is the second consecutive Miss America winner from Oklahoma and the sixth overall from the state in the history of the pageant.

Nelson attended MacArthur High School in her hometown of Lawton. She later pursued higher education at the University of Central Oklahoma, where she graduated with a degree in public relations.

Her pageant career gained early prominence when she held the title of Miss Teen Oklahoma 2004, a role that included a performance at the 2005 Miss America pageant. In 2006, she won the local title of Miss Oklahoma State Fair 2006 and entered the Miss Oklahoma pageant for the first time. On June 11, 2006, she was crowned Miss Oklahoma 2006 and awarded a $16,000 scholarship. At nineteen years old, she was the youngest contestant to win the Miss Oklahoma title.

Nelson represented Oklahoma at the Miss America 2007 pageant, which was broadcast on CMT from the Theatre for the Performing Arts on January 29, 2007. During the competition, she won a preliminary swimsuit award, becoming the first contestant from her state to earn that award since 1955. Her competition talent was a vocal performance, and her chosen platform was titled "Be NetSmart – Protecting Kids Online."

At the conclusion of the telecast, Nelson was crowned Miss America 2007, winning a $50,000 scholarship award alongside the title and finishing ahead of first runner-up Shilah Phillips, Miss Texas 2006. She succeeded previous winner Jennifer Berry, marking only the second time in Miss America history that a state produced back-to-back winners.

During her public career, Nelson actively engaged in child protection efforts. She partnered with host John Walsh on the FOX program America's Most Wanted to help apprehend potential child predators by posing as a teenager online, and she ultimately agreed to testify against the perpetrators. On January 17, 2008, she competed on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on behalf of the Miss America Organization, winning $175,000 before dropping out.

On August 2, 2010, Nelson joined the CBS affiliate KWTV in Oklahoma City as a co-anchor for the station's 4 P.M. newscast, which was reformatted into a lifestyle-oriented program.

In her personal life, Nelson married student minister Randy Faram on October 24, 2009. The couple has two children: a son, Mason, born in October 2013, and a daughter, Dawson Paige, born in March 2016.