Miss USA 2014 Nia Sanchez on LIVE with Kelly and Michael

Miss USA 2014: Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez Wins -- How'd She Do During the Interview?

BY JUSTIN RAVITZ

It would be wise not to get on the bad side of Miss USA 2014: She holds a fourth degree back belt in taekwondo! At the 63rd annual Miss USA pageant—broadcast live on Sunday, June 9 from the Baton Rouge Civic Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana—Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez walked away with the coveted crown.

The pretty martial artist, 24, defeated 50 other beauty queens to win this year's pageant following swimsuit, evening gown and interview portions. and explained that she took up taekwondo as a means to defend herself and bolster her confidence after spending time as a young girl in a women's shelter with her mom. Today, Sanchez volunteers at similar shelters and teachers women and kids to defend themselves against what she called "stranger danger" "I relate to them on a personal level because I've been there myself," she said.

Sanchez also avoided typical beauty-pageant-embarassment when fielding tricky questions from celeb judges. Judge Rumer Willis asked about the high rate of sexual assault on college campuses. "I believe that some colleges may potentially be afraid of having a bad reputation and that would be a reason it could be swept under the rug, because they don't want that to come out into the public," she said. "But I think more awareness is very important so women can learn how to protect themselves. Myself, as a fourth-degree black belt, I learned from a young age that you need to be confident and be able to defend yourself. And I think that's something that we should start to really implement for a lot of women."

Given the crown by Miss USA 2013 Erin Brady, Sanchez bested first runner-up Audra Mari (Miss North Dakota) plus fellow finalists Miss Georgia, Miss Louisiana, Miss Florida and Miss Iowa. Sanchez will go on to compete in the Miss Universe competition this fall.

Miss USA’s Gown Was FedExed to Her, Says Designer: “I Was So Nervous It Wouldn’t Get to Her”

by EMILY POPP

When you think of "pageant dresses," poufy, overworked gowns with a smattering of sequins may come to mind. But that's not how it always has to be. Case in point: Miss USA winner Nia Sanchez. The 24-year-old Miss Nevada blew us away with her red, mermaid-style number designed by Michael Costello that she wore as she was crowned Miss USA 2014. It's everything a pageant dress should be. The crimson curve hugging gown totally gives us some Jessica Rabbit vibes, and it's sofigure flattering—although Nia would look stunning in a bolt of burlap (she's a fourth-degree black belt, people!).

We caught up with the designer himself, Michael Costello, and he exclusively revealed all the behind-the-scenes scoop on Nia's winning look. "We had to keep that dress top secret," explained Michael. Originally Nia tried the dress on in a different color. "I said we have to do this in red, it would be everything, yes we must do this in red." After deciding on the dress, Michael had a few tailoring tweaks to make, so he had to FedEx the dress to Nia to make sure it got to her in time. "We shipped it to Nia in Baton Rouge," said Michael. "I remember walking to FedEx, and I was so nervous it wouldn't get to her. I was so afraid. She texted me when she got it, and said, yay it fits her perfectly!"

And here's the cherry on top of the sundae: You can buy this exact dress! Michael posted a pic of Nia in his dress on Instagram with the caption, "CONGRATULATIONS to my beautiful friend @missnvusa2014 Nia Sanchez who won last night @missusa... I am so happy for you. You deserve it. I had a feeling lol!" And he added, "This dress is available to order by emailing MICHAEL@MTCOSTELLO.COM it is available in every color you can dream of. And we ship worldwide. Yup I had to throw that in :)" So, if you've got a "Gorgeous Dress Fund" that you want to break into, we've got just the gown.