NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n\n\n- Miss Maine USA runner-up Mara Carpenter called out the media for reaching out to her for comments about her fellow contestants on Monday, May 12, one day after the pageant wrapped<\/li>\n
- On her Instagram Stories, Carpenter said that she appreciated reporters’ words of congratulations when they reached out, though she noticed many articles rarely mention her second-place achievement<\/li>\n
- She clarified that she “loved all of the contestants” at the pageant, which includes both Bill Belichick’s girlfriend Jordon Hudson and Isabelle St. Cyr, the first transgender woman to compete in Miss Maine USA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Miss Maine USA<\/a>\u00a0runner-up\u00a0Mara Carpenter<\/a>\u00a0is speaking up about the press frenzy that has surrounded the pageant.<\/p>\nOn Monday, May 12 \u2014\u00a0one day after\u00a0winner Shelby Howell was crowned<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Carpenter took to her\u00a0Instagram Stories<\/a>\u00a0to both thank\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>call out the media personnel who have reached out to her in the 24 hours since she shared the stage with\u00a0Bill Belichick<\/a>‘s girlfriend,\u00a0Jordon Hudson<\/a>, who placed third overall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBoth local and major national outlets flocked to the Holiday Inn venue in Portland to see Hudson, 24, and Belichick, 73, who supported her on both days, sitting front row during the preliminary round on Saturday, May 10 and the finals on Sunday, May 11. The press also came to watch history-making contestant\u00a0Isabelle St. Cyr<\/a>, the first transgender Miss Maine USA contestant.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn Carpenter’s post-pageant reflection on the widespread coverage, she noted that her name and runner-up achievement seldom appear in the news posts she’s seen.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n![\"Jordon](\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/C3VOCzxye8-Vpe8_MbvwpQ0qR_0=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(601x0:603x2):format(webp)\/Jordon-Hudson-01-051225-80de21cd31da411281254f50aed8a5f7.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>Jordon Hudson with her fellow contestants, including Mara Carpenter, at Miss Maine USA 2025.<\/span>Zoey Lyttle<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n“I appreciate all of the media reaching out and congratulating me on my placement…But at the same time fails to even mention my placement in any article, and still continues to ask for my input on the other ladies,” she wrote alongside a smiling selfie on Instagram.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n“I loved all of the contestants, and I’m the mystery person that your fail to mention inbetween [sic] winner and 2nd [runner-up]!” added Carpenter, who was representing Cumberland County at the statewide event.<\/p>\n
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- Miss Maine USA runner-up Mara Carpenter called out the media for reaching out to her for comments about her fellow contestants on Monday, May 12, one day after the pageant wrapped<\/li>\n
- On her Instagram Stories, Carpenter said that she appreciated reporters’ words of congratulations when they reached out, though she noticed many articles rarely mention her second-place achievement<\/li>\n
- She clarified that she “loved all of the contestants” at the pageant, which includes both Bill Belichick’s girlfriend Jordon Hudson and Isabelle St. Cyr, the first transgender woman to compete in Miss Maine USA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Miss Maine USA<\/a>\u00a0runner-up\u00a0Mara Carpenter<\/a>\u00a0is speaking up about the press frenzy that has surrounded the pageant.<\/p>\n
On Monday, May 12 \u2014\u00a0one day after\u00a0winner Shelby Howell was crowned<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Carpenter took to her\u00a0Instagram Stories<\/a>\u00a0to both thank\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>call out the media personnel who have reached out to her in the 24 hours since she shared the stage with\u00a0Bill Belichick<\/a>‘s girlfriend,\u00a0Jordon Hudson<\/a>, who placed third overall.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nBoth local and major national outlets flocked to the Holiday Inn venue in Portland to see Hudson, 24, and Belichick, 73, who supported her on both days, sitting front row during the preliminary round on Saturday, May 10 and the finals on Sunday, May 11. The press also came to watch history-making contestant\u00a0Isabelle St. Cyr<\/a>, the first transgender Miss Maine USA contestant.<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn Carpenter’s post-pageant reflection on the widespread coverage, she noted that her name and runner-up achievement seldom appear in the news posts she’s seen.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\n \n<\/div>\n<\/div>Jordon Hudson with her fellow contestants, including Mara Carpenter, at Miss Maine USA 2025.<\/span>Zoey Lyttle<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n “I appreciate all of the media reaching out and congratulating me on my placement…But at the same time fails to even mention my placement in any article, and still continues to ask for my input on the other ladies,” she wrote alongside a smiling selfie on Instagram.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n“I loved all of the contestants, and I’m the mystery person that your fail to mention inbetween [sic] winner and 2nd [runner-up]!” added Carpenter, who was representing Cumberland County at the statewide event.<\/p>\n
![\"Three](\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/NZBmD_W4MB01eLgAzj4hDylfW90=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(599x0:601x2):format(webp)\/Jordon-Hudson-02-051225-1e258ec0ce5c4e50aa89edd427b891a9.jpg\")
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