Secrets of Miss America 2023 (2023) (2023)

Since the 1960s, the swimsuit has been a thorn in the pageant's side, but a thorn that kept millions of viewers tuning in year after year. In 2018 the pageant took the drastic decision to ban the swimsuit round from the competition, causing a divide between modernizers and traditionalists which ends in an all-out war that has the potential to bring end Miss America.

The Miss America Organization today claims to be open to women of all races, backgrounds and body shapes, and 2019 saw women of color win a clean sweep of top beauty pageants for the first time. But there has never been a Latina winner, and the experiences of African American women competing in Miss America have been fraught with challenges. Has the pageant's racist past really gone away?

With recent tragedies in the pageant community, the issue of mental health in the Miss America competition has been brought into sharper focus. The modern-day Miss Americas are expected to face the judgements of the past while carrying the weight of current expectations.