10/24/2025
As an advocate for self love, in pageantry loving yourself enough to be judged is hard on its own but with an external physical difference its something that takes extraordinary courage! Thank you Miss USA for continuing to allow and accept diversity!
Mary Sickler Redefines Beauty at Miss USA: Alopecia Survivor Walks Wig-Free in Powerful Pageant Moment
Mary Sickler’s story is one of rediscovery and courage.
The reigning Miss Nevada USA has turned what once felt like a devastating diagnosis into a symbol of empowerment, walking into the Miss USA preliminaries with her head, and spirit, held high.
During Wednesday night’s preliminary event in Reno, Nevada, the 22-year-old stunned the audience when she removed her wig, revealing her alopecia universalis.
Dressed in a sparkling silver gown and a matching bejeweled head covering, she shared the runway with Miss New Hampshire, Mona Lesa Brackett, who competed in a hijab, a striking moment of beauty in diversity that drew admiration from both judges and fans.
For Sickler, the journey to this stage was not without pain. Diagnosed in late 2024 after rapid hair loss, she initially felt stripped of her identity.
“I remember coming home, and I looked in the mirror and I had never felt uglier,” she told PEOPLE. “My hair was all in patches, my eyelashes were completely gone, I had no eyebrows, and I honestly couldn't recognize myself anymore.”
A longtime model and pageant competitor, Sickler had been working with major fashion brands, including Louis Vuitton, when her condition forced her to retreat from the spotlight. She hid her alopecia from friends and colleagues, fearful it would end her career.
“At that time, I thought, ‘Well, how can a model have no hair? How can anyone view her as beautiful without it?’” she recalled. Her fears materialized when her contract was eventually revoked after months of inactivity.
Still, she found the strength to return to pageantry, the world that had shaped her since childhood.
Despite her coach’s advice to wait, she entered Miss Texas USA in May 2025, finishing as first runner-up, and went on to win Miss Nevada USA just two months later.
Even then, she kept her diagnosis private. “I knew if I talked about it in the interview room, I would cry, and that wasn’t the message I wanted to send,” she explained.
“I wanted to send that I was strong.” But about a month before Miss USA, she finally went public with her story on social media, a decision that transformed her journey into one of resilience and self-acceptance.
Now, as the first woman with alopecia to compete at Miss USA, Sickler is using her platform to redefine beauty standards.
“I lost all my hair, and I definitely didn’t think that I would be walking on the Miss USA stage without any hair, but I am,” she said.
“It took me a long time to finally be able to see myself as beautiful, and I think that’s the first step. If you see yourself as beautiful and you own it, then other people will too.”
The Miss USA 2025 finals take place on Friday, Oct. 24 — but for Mary Sickler, her most important victory may already be won.
