Miss Nevada USA, Mary Sickler, made a bold and emotional statement during the Miss USA 2025 pageant preliminaries on Wednesday, October 22, when she appeared on stage without a wig.
The 22-year-old, who has alopecia universalis — a condition that causes complete hair loss — received cheers from the crowd as she confidently showcased her natural look.
The event, held in Reno, Nevada, saw Sickler wearing a sparkling silver gown with intricate beading and a matching jeweled head covering. She walked proudly alongside Miss New Hampshire, Mona Lesa Brackett, who competed in a hijab. The Miss USA finals will take place on Friday, October 24, when the new winner will be crowned.
Sickler was diagnosed with alopecia in December 2024 after she began losing her hair in patches. Initially, doctors thought it was alopecia areata, which causes partial hair loss, but her condition later developed into total baldness.
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“I remember coming home, and I looked in the mirror and had never felt uglier,” Sickler said in a recent interview. “My hair was in patches, my eyelashes were gone, I had no eyebrows, and I honestly couldn’t recognize myself anymore.”
Before her diagnosis, Sickler had been competing in beauty pageants since the age of 10 and had a growing modeling career that included a campaign with Louis Vuitton. However, after her hair loss began, she pulled back from modeling, fearing that losing her hair would end her career.
“At that time, I thought, ‘How can a model have no hair? How can anyone see her as beautiful without it?’” she recalled. Her modeling contract was later revoked, and she kept her condition a secret from many friends and family members.
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Despite losing confidence, Sickler found the courage to return to the pageant world. In May 2025, she competed at Miss Texas USA and placed as first runner-up. Later that year, she entered the Miss Nevada USA competition — and won the crown in July.
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At the time, she chose not to talk about her condition publicly. “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 show that I was strong.”
A month before the Miss USA competition, Sickler decided to reveal her alopecia in a series of social media videos. Her openness inspired many and marked a historic moment — she became the first woman with a public alopecia diagnosis to hold the Miss Nevada USA title and compete for Miss USA.
“I lost all my hair, and I definitely didn’t think I’d be walking on the Miss USA stage without it, but I am,” she said proudly. “It took me a long time to see myself as beautiful, but once you do and you own it, others will too.”
