Pageant News Bureau - Carol Grow

Carol Grow -- Triumph of a good girl

Carol Grow was Miss Kansas USA 1994 and a finalist at the Miss USA Pageant. Her biggest break came when she appeared in the catalogs of Venus Swimwear. Since then, she has been seen on many television shows including "Bodyshaping," "Co-Ed Training," "Search Party," "Baywatch" and "Wild On!"

PNB interviewer Patrick Nathaniel Bartholomew III talked with Ms. Grow in late summer 2002. They talked about what it's like to be a happily married Christian woman with a sexy public persona. They also discussed the anniversary of Sept. 11, which was then imminent.

PNB: Carol, let’s back up to your days at the Miss USA Pageant in 1994. With which of the other state delegates have you stayed in touch?

CG: There are a few that I have talked to recently. Shelly Lehman, who was Miss Missouri USA, is now Shelly Holt. Shelly is married and has two children. I’ve spoken to Pat Southall, who married Martin Lawrence, not too long after the Miss USA Pageant. Unfortunately, they got a divorce. Pat went on to marry Emmitt Smith, who is a running back for the Dallas Cowboys and played football with my husband at the University of Florida. I also see Jennifer Gareis, who stars on "The Young and the Restless." Jennifer has also been in several movies, including "Miss Congeniality" starring Sandra Bullock. It was a good group of girls. Many of them have been successful outside of the Miss USA Pageant, which is great because it was a launching pad for all of us. It gave us self-esteem. It did give us a couple of headaches as well, because it was pretty competitive. Being somewhere for a little over three weeks is a long time when you are competing to win something. The first week you are getting to know each other and you become friends. The second week everyone is getting a little grouchy. The third week you’re ready to kill the person sitting next to you. And by the end of the final night, the person who is still standing is the one who wins.

I had never even done a bikini contest before that. But I heard it was going to be televised in Kansas. When I heard that, I said to myself, "I want to be on television. OK, I’ll do it. Where do I sign up?"

My goal was just to be in the Top 10 because I wanted to be on the complete telecast. I made the Top 10, but it was so funny because I didn’t even pay any attention to the end of the program because I knew that there were so many other girls more qualified to be Miss Kansas. I really didn’t feel like it would be me. When there were just two of us left standing, I just knew it would be the other girl. When the title went to me rather than her, I’m like, "Oh, my gosh. I didn’t pay attention. Where do I go? They’re putting the crown on my head." I’m hugging the first runner-up like she won. Then, I’m looking at my parents like, "Where do we go from here?"

After that was over and I was over the shock of winning, it was only about four months to the Miss USA Pageant. My goal, once again, was to complete the whole telecast. I wanted to go as far as I could because I wanted my friends and family to be able to see me at home. If you only go through the preliminaries and you don’t make the Top 10, you really don’t get to be seen. So I was like, "Gosh, I want to be seen. I want to be seen. I want to be seen."

Fortunately, I was seen. I did make the Top 10. My pageant experiences gave me self-confidence in front of other people. I became more comfortable whether it was speaking, modeling, hosting, or at dinner parties. Oddly enough, it gives you a lot of confidence. In that respect, doing competitions gives you self-confidence in other aspects of your life or your career.

Victor didn’t tell me because he didn’t want me to be disappointed if Lou didn’t choose me. So when Lou called me, I thought it was a joke. Literally, I was like, "What? Who is this? Whatever …" I did not participate in the Venus Swimwear Model Search at all. I was literally sent to them by Victor Almo. Then, Lou hired me to do the catalogs. So I’ve always been just the catalog model.
PNB: Did the work for Venus Swimwear lead to anything else?

CG: Absolutely! Absolutely! Number One, I ended up getting tear sheets. Number Two, I was on the cover of some of the catalogs and then millions of people saw me. Number Three, they’ve helped me get a reputable agent. A lot of people see the Venus catalogs. It is the Number One mail-order catalog for swimwear. Don’t think that just residential people see their catalogs. Business people are looking at that. Modeling people are looking at that. Agents are looking at that. They see you, and they want to hire you. It is a great launching pad.

PNB: How did you get hired for the ESPN2 fitness shows?

CG: Lou Maggio told me that they were looking for a girl to be a novice, a new fitness personality, somebody who was just starting out. I ended up learning how to work out based upon knowing that I really wanted to be on television. I had a homemade videotape of me working out and sent it up to New York to High Bar Productions. John Traetta hired me, and I did Co-Ed Training and Bodyshaping. That all goes back to Venus. If I would never have met Lou, I would never have met John Traetta. If I would never have met Lou, I would never have been on E!. I was on a shoot in the Bahamas, and E! was missing Jules Asner. I think she was delayed. The supervising producer said, "What do you want to do?" I said, "I want to be on television." He said, "Well, you’re going to get the opportunity. Can you work for us tomorrow?" So they put me on tape. When they had a job opening for "Search Party," I got hired because they brought me in for an audition because they had seen me on tape while I was on a Venus Swimwear shoot.

PNB: How does High Bar Productions and ESPN2 produce a season of fitness shows?

CG: Four shows a day for an entire month. A lot of work.

PNB: Do you rehearse?

CG: You rehearse on your own time at night. It was like a boot camp for me. It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun. I met some great people that I still stay in contact with. Christian Boeving is still a really good friend of mine. I still stay in contact with Shawnae Jebbia (Miss USA 1998).

PNB interview:

Carol Grow talks
to Patrick Nathaniel Bartholomew III

Carol Grow -- Triumph of a good girl

PNB interview:

Carol Grow talksto Patrick Nathaniel Bartholomew III

Carol Grow -- Triumph of a good girl

Carol Grow talks
to Patrick Nathaniel Bartholomew III