Lauren Caitlin Upton (born March 27, 1989) is an American fashion model and beauty queen from Lexington, South Carolina.
Career
She is currently Miss South Carolina Teen USA. Upton was the 3rd runner up in the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant. She gained international notoriety for her convoluted response to a question posed to her during the national pageant.
Upton won the Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2007 title in a state pageant held in November 2006, after winning the Miss Lexington Teen USA title earlier in the year. It was her second attempt at the title, as she placed third runner-up to Brittany Smith in the previous year's pageant.
Upton attended Lexington High School where she was an honor student. She has modeled in numerous advertisements for such companies as Nautica and Wrangler and has appeared in national magazines like Seventeen, Cosmo Girl and American Cheerleader.
Upton plans to attend Appalachian State University to study graphic design.
Recently Upton signed a deal with Donald Trump's modeling agency in New York City where her assignments could earn her anywhere up to $30,000 per day.
Famous Response
As part of a question and answer portion of the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant, Upton was asked by the questioner Aimee Teegarden, "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?"
An "overwhelmed" Upton responded:
"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh, people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our [children]."
According to YouTube, video clips of her response on the website have had over 17 million views. It is the site's most viewed video for the month of September of 2007 and the twenty-sixth most viewed of all time. Many YouTube users made their own parodies of the incident. As a guest on NBC's The Today Show, Caitlin told Ann Curry and Matt Lauer that she was "overwhelmed" when asked the question and didn't comprehend it correctly. The Today Show hosts gave Upton another opportunity to answer the question and she responded:
"Personally, my friends and I, we know exactly where the United States is on a map. I don't know anyone else who doesn't. If the statistics are correct, I believe there should be more emphasis on geography in our education so people will learn how to read maps better."
Both Curry and Lauer, along with unseen Today Show crew members, applauded her response.
Caitlin and her boyfriend also attended the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, where she performed a parody of her famous response.
Career
She is currently Miss South Carolina Teen USA. Upton was the 3rd runner up in the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant. She gained international notoriety for her convoluted response to a question posed to her during the national pageant.
Upton won the Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2007 title in a state pageant held in November 2006, after winning the Miss Lexington Teen USA title earlier in the year. It was her second attempt at the title, as she placed third runner-up to Brittany Smith in the previous year's pageant.
Upton attended Lexington High School where she was an honor student. She has modeled in numerous advertisements for such companies as Nautica and Wrangler and has appeared in national magazines like Seventeen, Cosmo Girl and American Cheerleader.
Upton plans to attend Appalachian State University to study graphic design.
Recently Upton signed a deal with Donald Trump's modeling agency in New York City where her assignments could earn her anywhere up to $30,000 per day.
Famous Response
As part of a question and answer portion of the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant, Upton was asked by the questioner Aimee Teegarden, "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?"
An "overwhelmed" Upton responded:
"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh, people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our [children]."
According to YouTube, video clips of her response on the website have had over 17 million views. It is the site's most viewed video for the month of September of 2007 and the twenty-sixth most viewed of all time. Many YouTube users made their own parodies of the incident. As a guest on NBC's The Today Show, Caitlin told Ann Curry and Matt Lauer that she was "overwhelmed" when asked the question and didn't comprehend it correctly. The Today Show hosts gave Upton another opportunity to answer the question and she responded:
"Personally, my friends and I, we know exactly where the United States is on a map. I don't know anyone else who doesn't. If the statistics are correct, I believe there should be more emphasis on geography in our education so people will learn how to read maps better."
Both Curry and Lauer, along with unseen Today Show crew members, applauded her response.
Caitlin and her boyfriend also attended the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, where she performed a parody of her famous response.