Chelsea Cooley

Miss North Carolina Teen USA, Miss North Carolina USA

Cooley won the Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2000 title and represented North Carolina in the Miss Teen USA 2000 pageant, but did not place. Her preliminary scores put her in 11th place, only a spot away from the top 10. Had there been a top twelve or top fifteen chosen, as in future years, Cooley would have been a semi-finalist. She had greater success in 2001, when she became Miss United States Teen.

Cooley first entered the Miss North Carolina USA pageant in 2004, where she placed 1st runner-up to Ashley Puleo. She also won her state's Miss Photogenic award in that year. Puleo went on to place second-runner up at the Miss USA 2004 pageant. The following year, Cooley won the Miss North Carolina USA 2005 title on her second attempt.

Miss USA 2005 pageant

Cooley represented North Carolina in the Miss USA 2005 pageant broadcast live from Baltimore, Maryland on April 21, 2005. She was the 14th of 15 women called into the semi-finals. For the evening gown competition she wore a flowing black gown with a deep v and a high slit. She wore her hair in a high ponytail for the evening gown competition and it was let loose for the swimsuit competition.

For her final question, Cooley drew the question of former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey. She was asked: "What famous person does your personality most parallel?" Her answer was: "I guess it would be Oprah. She has a passion for life. She loves what she does, and she works so hard to try to achieve everything in her life... I try to emulate myself after that."

Miss Universe 2005 pageant

Cooley competed as Miss USA in the Miss Universe pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 31, 2005. She advanced to the top 10. The eventual winner of that pageant was Natalie Glebova of Canada.

As Miss USA

Within days of her pageant win in Baltimore, Cooley moved to a Trump Tower apartment in New York City which she shared with Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA during her reign. As with recent Miss USAs, her first week was a hectic schedule of media interviews, including Scott and Todd in the Morning, New York radio station WPLJ, Fox and Friends, Fox News, WB11 Morning News and Live! with Regis and Kelly. She also participated in fashion shoots and met with designer Tadashi, a sponsor of the Miss USA pageant. In early May Cooley was a guest conductor for the Long Island Philharmonia, and presided over the NASDAQ opening bell in celebration of Mother's Day and in support of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

Cooley then traveled to Thailand to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, and she and newly crowned queen Natalie Glebova stayed in Thailand for a week after the competition, making appearances with the Thai government, including an appearance with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at an orphan's home.

Cooley returned to New York and celebrated her homecoming in North Carolina, throwing out the first pitch at a Carolina Mudcats game, interviewing with local media, and addressing the North Carolina House of Representatives and the state Senate.

She again returned briefly to New York, before she and Miss Teen USA 2004 Shelley Hennig participated in a USO tour of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in late June. In July, Cooley settled in New York, participating in more USO events and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.

In August, Cooley traveled to Curaçao, and then returned to the United States, making more appearances in the New York area and throughout the country throughout the following three months. In November, Cooley appeared on a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

One of Cooley's prizes was a special guest appearance on the soap opera Passions, which was taped in January 2006 and aired on Valentines Day, February 14, 2006. In the new year Cooley returned to Curaçao for a third visit, appeared at the Gilda's Club Gala in New York and participated in another photo shoot. She returned to Curaçao for two days in late February 2006, before traveling to Maryland where she shot footage for the upcoming Miss USA 2006 telecast.

In March Cooley participated on the Miss USA edition of Deal or No Deal along with 26 of the delegates for Miss USA 2006. She travelled to Baltimore in April to participate with the delegates on pre-pageant events, co-hosted the pageant preliminaries with Baltimore news anchor Stan Stovall and was a commentator for the final competition, along with Carson Kressley of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

She crowned her successor, Tara Conner of Kentucky, at the conclusion of the final competition on April 21, 2006. Cooley was honored as a Star of the South by Irish America magazine in 2006.

Post-pageant

Cooley has expressed a desire to move into the entertainment industry after she has passed on her crown.

Just prior to giving up her crown in April 2006, Cooley competed on NBC's Celebrity Cooking Showdown, where she beat Tony Gonzalez and "Big Kenny" (of country music duo Big & Rich) by a narrow margin.

Cooley acted as a judge in numerous Miss USA 2007 state pageants, including South Carolina, Louisiana and Minnesota.

She has written a book entitled Beauty Pageant Confidential.

Cooley is the president of an image consulting company, StandOut. Productions, which she founded along with A. T. Dunn.

She married Heath Altman in October 2008. On April 13, 2010, she gave birth to a baby girl, Airlie Scott Altman. She has a half-brother, Andrew.

Since late 2012, Cooley has been a member of the girl music group BQ Girls.