Larissa Meek

Larissa Meek is a former beauty queen who has competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants and a model who was the star of the television show Average Joe: Hawaii.

In 1996 Meek won the Miss Missouri Teen USA 1997 title and competed in the Miss Teen USA 1997 pageant held at South Padre Island, Texas. She did not place but did earn an Honorable Mention. In 2000 she competed in the Miss Missouri USA pageant for the first time and won the title. Meek represented Missouri at the Miss USA 2001 pageant telecast live from Gary, Indiana in March 2001, and made the semifinals. She won both the swimsuit and evening gown competitions with scores of 9.45 and 9.39 respectively, and made the final five in first place. After this, Meek gave a mediocre performance in the interview portion and received the lowest score for this competition, and failed to make the final three, meaning that Meek notably placed as 4th Runner-up even though she received the highest swimsuit and evening gown scores. Many pageant fans were disappointed and thought that Meek could have won the crown, but with Meek's case, it shows that the interview portion, now known as The Final Question, is the most important competition in the pageant. It has been speculated that Meek's case prompted format changes in both the Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA pageants later that year, where there was no cut to a final 3. The pageant was ultimately won by Texas' Kandace Krueger.