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NEW YORK - Fallen beauty queen, Miss USA Tara Conner, said she had witnessed abuse as a child and that may have driven her into a life of alcohol and drugs - but she still believed she could be a good role model.
Conner, 21, came close to losing her crown last month because of her wild behavior but was given a second chance by real estate tycoon and reality TV star, Donald Trump, owner of the Miss USA contest, after she agreed to enter a rehabilitation program.
In her first interview since emerging from a month in rehab, Conner said she had come to terms with the fact that she was an alcoholic, willingly admitted she had taken cocaine, and described her past behavior as dishonest and manipulative.
But she said she had faced her "demons" and hinted her problems may have stemmed from some unspecified abuse during her childhood with someone she recently confronted. She would not comment on whether this abuse was sexual.
"I will not deny that I have witnessed some abuse, but out of respect for my family ... it's something I would like to speak with my family about first," Conner told NBC television's "Today" show in the interview broadcast on Thursday.
"Later on, maybe I'll feel more comfortable about speaking on these topics, but right now not so much."
She said what had happened in the past may have contributed to her alcoholism and addictive personality.
"I'm sure it could have played a part in it," said Conner.
Conner, a country girl from the small town of Russell Springs in Kentucky, said she had struggled with alcoholism since she was a teenager and admitted to taking cocaine before becoming Miss USA last April and after winning the title.
"Nothing, you know, nothing fazed me. I would take what I could get because I was trying to mask so many things that I felt inside, and I had a lot of pain and insecurity," she said.
Although some people opposed Trump's decision to give Conner a second chance, the beauty queen said she believed she could still be a good role model and effective in her position.
"I realize that there's something else that I'm very passionate about, which is not only absence from drugs and alcohol, obviously, but the education," she said.
"There's a need for education about alcoholism and drug addiction."
- REUTERS
