Rachel DeAngelis to make appearance at Malibu’s Chili Cook-Off
A young Malibu woman has just won the title of Miss California United States. Rachel DeAngelis will now go on to represent California at this year’s Miss United States pageant in October.
The 21-year-old, who was a student at Our Lady of Malibu, decided to be home schooled for high school “but it worked out for the best,” she said, “because I got to live in Malibu and travel,” booking jobs as an actress and model. Now a graduate of Washington State University, DeAngelis is using her journalism degree as a television news anchor on Nonstop Local KTMF in Montana, where she now lives, although Malibu, she says, will always be her home.
As a teen DeAngelis served on the Harry Barovsky Youth Commission, where she advocated for teens to live a heart-healthy life. She took up the cause after a beloved Malibu uncle died from heart disease at only 37. She’s partnered with the American Heart Association as a spokesperson and promotes heart health in her platform while competing in pageants.
“Family is really important to me,” DeAngelis said. “That’s why I decided to be a part of the youth commission and also to create change.”
Along with competing in pageants, the newly crowned Miss California United States has been working for nearly a decade as a model and actress. She’s been featured in Target and Macy’s ads, and booked television commercials too. She’s walked the runways for LA Fashion Week, Metropolitan Fashion Week in Seattle, as well as international modeling since the age of 15. Now that’s she’s living in Montana, she’s appeared as a featured extra on the hit TV show“Yellowstone,” which films there.
While modeling and acting, though, DeAngelis was also competing in pageants. From age 12, when she entered her first competition, she found it exciting. She became Miss Pre-Teen Malibu United States.
“It was not something I anticipated doing,” she said. “It was not something my family did at all, but I gave it a shot and absolutely fell in love with it.”
She now has eight titles, including her recent win as Miss California United States. DeAngelis intends on taking the next step, competing for Miss United States in October in Memphis, Tennessee. She’ll face competition from all the other states for the crown.
“The Miss United States pageant consists of swimsuit, evening gown, and interviews. Public speaking is a huge part of Miss United States,” DeAngelis said. “We have a platform presentation to judges and audiences.”
DeAngelis’ presentation will focus on her passion, heart health awareness. She’ll discuss the American Heart Association and her work to help pass California Bill AB-1719. The bill makes CPR training a high school requirement, something the pageant winner is very proud of. DeAngelis also personally raised over $5,000 for the cause and created her own campaign called “Healthy Heart, Healthy Life.”
The Malibu native says she enjoys the competition and likens it “to a sport. It’s the most competitive thing that I’veever done. When you step on that stage, some girls like to compare themselves to others, but competing for the past almost 10 years, I’ve competed against thousands of girls and the biggest piece of advice I give to myself and other girls is to not compare yourself against other girls because I think everyone is unique in their own way and they all have assets to show the judges. That goes through my mind when I’m competing. When you win it’s one of the things whereI feel so grateful to have the opportunity to make change. It’s also so humbling too at the same time.”
When people ask DeAngelis why she represents California while now living in Montana, she tells them California will always be her home.
“I actually come back home about every month,” she said. “Any opportunity I get to go back home I take. Growing up in Malibu I was always that surfer kid. The beach is my life.” But it’s her family in Malibu she says is most important and what she misses most.
DeAngelis will be back home soon. She plans on attending the Chili Cook-Off, where in past years she’s volunteered for Our Lady of Malibu. “It’s one of my most favorite memories of growing up in Malibu,” she said.
Look for the pageant winner in her crown and sash Labor Day weekend at the event. She’ll be volunteering again and hopes people will stop by and say hello.