Miss America 2013

Miss District of Columbia, Allyn Rose, is replacing the superficiality of beauty pageants with courage. After Saturday’s Miss America event, the 24-year-old stunner plans to undergo a preemptive double mastectomy. Rose lost her mother, grandmother, and great aunt to breast cancer and has a rare genetic mutation that potentially predisposes her to cancer. She is choosing the procedure as a preventative measure. "If there's something that I can do ... more 

Miss District of Columbia, Allyn Rose, is replacing the superficiality of beauty pageants with courage. After Saturday’s Miss America event, the 24-year-old stunner plans to undergo a preemptive double mastectomy. Rose lost her mother, grandmother, and great aunt to breast cancer and has a rare genetic mutation that potentially predisposes her to cancer. She is choosing the procedure as a preventative measure. "If there's something that I can do to be proactive, it might hurt my body, it might hurt my physical beauty, but I'm going to be alive," Rose said.

If she wins, she still plans to undergo the surgery during her reign. "I've been thinking how powerful that might be to have a Miss America say, 'I might be Miss America, but I'm still going to have surgery. I'm going to take control of my own life, my own health care,' " she said. Rose will compete for the coveted Miss Universe 2013 title on Saturday, 1/12 at 9 PM on ABC. less