Magen Ellis

Personal life

Ellis graduated from Whitehouse High School in 2004 and attends the University of Houston where she studies Spanish and communications. She is engaged to Bradley Cherry. The couple wed on May 14, 2011 in Houston, Texas.

Miss Texas Teen USA

Ellis' first major pageant win came in 2003 when she won the title Miss Texas Teen USA 2004. Ellis was already an experienced contestant when she won this title, as she had placed third runner-up in the 2002 pageant and was a semi-finalist in 2003. She had first won three local titles which gave her the opportunity to participate in the state pageant: City of Roses (2002), Tyler (2003 and 2004).

Ellis represented Texas in the Miss Teen USA pageant held in Palm Springs, California in August 2004. She placed in the top fifteen of the nationally televised pageant, which was won by Shelley Hennig of Louisiana.

In 2002, when Ellis placed third runner-up, one of the semi-finalists in that pageant was Lauren Lanning, who won the Miss Texas USA 2006 title and would crown Ellis as the new queen. Another 2002 semi-finalist was Tye Felan, who would win the Miss Texas Teen USA title and crown Ellis as Miss Texas Teen USA 2004. In 2002 and 2003, Ellis also competed alongside Cassandra Whitehead, who would gain notoriety when she quit America's Next Top Model, Cycle 5.

Miss Texas USA

In November 2004, Ellis passed on her crown to April Ford. Only months later, Ellis competed in the Miss Texas USA pageant as Miss Fort Bend USA. This was possible because Texas is one of the few Miss USA state pageants to be held in June, rather than in the usual pageant season which begins in August and runs until December. Ellis placed in the top ten in that pageant, which was remarkable because of the large number of delegates and because she was relatively young (still eighteen).

Ellis won the Miss Houston USA title in 2005, with Crystle Stewart placing as her first runner-up. Stewart had been first runner-up in the same competition the year before, and had placed first runner-up to that year's Miss Houston USA, Lauren Lanning, in the 2006 Miss Texas USA pageant. Ellis competed in the Miss Texas USA 2007 pageant on 25 June 2006, at the Laredo Entertainment Center in Laredo, Texas, against 132 other delegates, and in a replay of the Miss Houston USA result, beat Stewart to take the crown. However, Stewart would go on to win the title the following year and this time Ellis's successor as Miss Houston USA, Brooke Daniels, placed 1st runner-up to Stewart. Ellis was the second consecutive Miss Houston USA to win the Miss Texas USA title, and was crowned by outgoing titleholder Lauren Lanning. She also won Miss Photogenic in the pageant, a title she had also been awarded as a Teen in 2004. She competed against many of the delegates she competed against as a Teen.

Ellis is one of only four Miss Texas Teen USAs to win the Miss title. Her victory comes less than three years after winning her Teen crown, and less than eighteen months since she passed the title on. She is the second Miss Texas USA to win the title in a similar timeframe, following Nicole O'Brian who was Miss Texas Teen USA 2000 and Miss Texas USA 2003.

Miss USA 2007

Ellis competed for the title of Miss USA 2007 on March 23, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre. Like her predecessor Lauren Lanning, she placed in the top 10. Many fans thought she could have gone further but she received rather low scores in the swimsuit and evening gown competitions. Despite placing 6th in swimsuit and 9th in evening gown, she placed 8th overall.