Toddlers and Tiaras became an instant hit when it first aired back in 2008. But more
than a decade later, the once adorable, pint-sized stars of the show are all grown up! Here's
what these former toddlers look like now. And — spoiler alert — they ditched the
tutus.
"Those judges were nuts."
Eden Wood was a cute blonde beauty that won over pageant judges with her green eyes and
big smile on Toddlers & Tiaras. But perhaps her most memorable moment on the show was
the time she unleashed a full-blown meltdown at the World Championship pageant because
her hair piece wasn't quite right. Her dramatic personality turned so many heads that she
even got her own spinoff, Eden's World, that followed her to New York City as she pursued
her acting, singing, and modeling careers.
"I rocked that stage."
Wood did go on to find success in acting, later starring as Darla in 2014's The Little
Rascals Save the Day. But these days, it looks like she's doing the normal teenager thing,
living her best life in high school. According to her official website, she's a flyer on
her cheerleading squad — you know, the one who gets tossed into the air — a soprano
in choir, and a drummer for her school's band. Wood has also found time to study, too, boasting
an impressive 4.0 GPA along with honor student status.
But even though she's been crushing the books, she hasn't stepped completely out of the spotlight.
In 2020, she appeared on Amazon Prime's reality show Next Big Thing New York City, sharing
her laugh and her seasoned wisdom with the rest of the cast.
"It's just a pageant and when it comes down to it, it's you against you."
Sarah Elizabeth — or, SaLiz, for short — had been competing in pageants since she was just
11 months old. The baby beauty queen wasn't originally set to be cast on Toddlers & Tiaras,
but, as her mom Sarah told The Arkansas Democrat Gazette,
"The cameras seemed to be wherever she was. […] Every time they would pan the room in
a shot, SaLiz would be there."
"You can have a Beyoncé, or you can have a Tina, then why can't you have a SaLiz."
So, the producers gave into what was already happening and cast her on the show as a regular.
SaLiz was a natural in front of the cameras and on stage during pageants, but despite
her success, her mom wanted her to grow up like a normal kid. That's probably why SaLiz
went to school, where she rocked, quote, "All AP and Pre-AP classes, plus basketball," according
to one of her Facebook posts. But even so, she's not living life completely out of the
spotlight. The aspiring rapper is also pursuing a career in music. According to her YouTube
channel, she's hoping to make a name for herself, performing hip-hop tracks that kids her age
can dance and sing to.
"Those other girls must be crazy if they think they're gonna beat me, Honey Boo Boo child."
Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson turned heads and raked in the ratings from the very first
moment she first appeared on Toddlers & Tiaras. She was just 6 years old during Season 5 when
she made her debut, quickly becoming the show's biggest star. It could have been because of
her enormous hair, but it was most likely her even bigger personality that made her
so famous. The little diva was always making bold, brash comments and inventing catch phrases
like "a dolla makes me holla." Thompson, her mom, and their crazy antics earned the family
so much buzz that they got their own spinoff show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
"What is that?"
"Err-d'erb."
"A what?"
"A hors d'erb."
"What is that?"
"It's a fancy hors d'erb, now grab one."
These days, Thompson is living with her older sister, Pumpkin. On another of the family
spinoff shows, Mama June: From Not to Hot, Alana was forced to move in with her sister
when her mom was arrested for drug possession. But despite the challenges she's facing, Thompson
appears to be thriving in the midst of all of it.
"Everybody's just one big happy family."
She spends loads of time with her niece and constantly posts about her on Instagram with
sweet captions that prove Alana is growing up and showing her family all the love.
"We are the tiara twiiiiiiiiiiiiins."
Alycesaundra and Giavanna lived up to their over-the-top names with their over-the-top
antics on the show. Better known on the series as "The Tiara Twins," the sisters were often
fighting with their mom, Kelly, for the camera's attention. And considering exactly how into
the pageant scene their mom was, that's saying something. Reportedly, Kelly says she spent
almost a million bucks on providing her daughters with the ultimate pageant life. In an interview
with HuffPost, she revealed exactly what she had spent the money on, explaining,
“[The girls] have a tour bus, they have a race-car trailer, they have Carl the bodyguard,
[and] they have their 13,000 square-foot practice building with a stage.”
"I'm gonna win."
But the massive investment seems to have paid off. These days, The Tiara Twins are both
seeing success in the fashion world. Alycesaundra started designing clothes when she was about
10 years old, and she showed a collection at New York Fashion Week in 2020. Giavanna
is working the other side of the runway as a model, most recently modeling her sister's
glamorous collection.
Isabella Barrett wasn't the biggest star on Toddlers & Tiaras, but she quickly turned
her 15 minutes of fame into some serious cash. According to the Daily Mail, the miniature
pageant queen became a millionaire at just 6 years old thanks to her jewelry and makeup
lines — and Barrett certainly didn't stop there! She went on to become a stakeholder
and designer in two of her very own companies: Bound By the Crown Couture and Glitzy Girl.
So, you might be wondering where she went, after landing all that success before she
was even a teen. Well, it appears, she went back to TV. In 2020, Barrett starred on Amazon's
Next Big Thing New York City, alongside fellow pageant buddy, Eden Wood.
Oh, and if running a business and starring on a TV show wasn't enough, Barrett is also
releasing a book titled Teens Guide to Business and starting a new lifestyle line called House
of Barretti, according to an interview with Authority Magazine.
Ava Bartello is perhaps most famous for her incredibly dramatic meltdown on the show.
The scene in which she cries, scowls, and refuses to smile for group photos is maybe
one of the most memorable tantrums in series history. At the time, the baby beauty queen
was devastated because she was only crowned "Grand Supreme" and not "Ultra Grand Supreme"
at the pageant.
"I wanted to win the Ultimate!."
"You're just tired."
Well, the good news is that Bartello is just as dramatic now as she was back then, but
these days she's using her powers for good. She's active on Instagram, and like many young
stars, she's also a prolific YouTuber. She typically posts lifestyle vlogs, tutorials
and hauls — like the one where she goes through her brand new school supplies, or
the one where she demonstrates how she straightens her hair. And, as her Instagram bio touts,
Bartello is, quote, "always a pageant girl, but now a queen."
"I'm Paisley and I'm in New York City. Would you like to have a tea party?"
What was more memorable: Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman, or 3-year-old
Paisley dressed as Vivian Ward in Toddlers & Tiaras? During the infamous episode, little
Paisley worked it for the judges in the iconic outfit from the movie, complete with a yellow
wig. But while the move caused a scandalized stir from other pageant goers, her mom, Wendy
Lee Dickey, wasn't sorry about any of it for a moment. She clapped back on the show,
"Paisley has competed in over 60 pageants, but it was definitely the Pretty Woman costume
that put Paisley's name out there."
But as controversial as her time on the show was, Paisley clearly leveraged her spin on
the pageant circuit. She even went on to land a few small roles on various TV shows and
movies like Red Band Society, Beacon Point, and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn. Paisley has
also been learning to sing and play the guitar. And somewhere in the midst of all of that,
she's found time to take plenty of selfies and flex for her fans once in a while on the
'Gram.
Destiny Christian was at the heart of yet another Toddlers & Tiaras controversy: she
was 4 years old when her pageant mom, Lisa Christian, dressed her up as the character
Sandy from the movie Grease. While it might sound cute, it definitely was — maybe except
for the fake cigarette and Lisa's instructions to her toddler to, quote, "Don't forget to
smoke!" Of course, people were not pleased. But Lisa wasn't fazed, even going so far as
to defend her actions to Nancy Grace, reminding her,
"It was just a prop — nothing more, nothing less."
"You know, Sandy was a good girl and she didn't smoke either, but she used it for image, so
I believe everything will go well."
But despite the controversy back then, Destiny is crushing it now. According to the middle
schooler's Facebook profile,
"[Destiny] loves to model, sing, and dance. She's happiest when she is on a stage performing!"
Aside from a few small acting gigs, Destiny is enjoying life as a normal kid. She attended
her first Snowball Dance, took first place with her competition dance team, and even
performed at a local haunted house.
"I'm Kylie and I'm five and I'm a little monster."
Kylie LaDuca might have had the biggest personality on Toddlers & Tiaras — and, considering
all the drama that went down on the show, that's saying a lot.
"What's the most important thing? That we get a big, big…"
"Crown."
"And lots of…?"
"Money."
While Kylie was a successful pageant girl, winning several "Ultimates", she was mainly
focused on her budding modeling career in which she'd already earned about $30,000 according
to her mom. Kylie once admitted on the show,
"The money is my favorite part. I love money."
Well, it appears Kylie still loves money, and she's currently hustling hard for it.
The young entrepreneur has appeared on several TV shows and runs her own website, KylieLaDuca.com,
where she sells merch which she designs and models herself. She also hosts a blog where
she shares updates about her life, as well as beauty tips for her fans.
Unfortunately, not everyone can be a winner, and not every little girl can be crowned "Grand
Supreme." And little Alexis Todd learned those lessons the hard way on the show, when she
lost the grand prize to Eden Wood and was instead crowned "Mini Supreme." It might still
sound good, but in the world of pageantry, it's a hard pill to swallow. Alexis was devastated,
but it appears that it was for a good reason. Before the competition, she was subjected
to both a spray tan and a full-on chiropractic adjustment. Her mom Monica explained,
"I'll go as far as I have to for Alexis to win. She is probably the only contestant that
has come to the chiropractor for an adjustment and I think that will give her an edge over
all the others."
"Hello? I can't be on TV like this."
Perhaps all those adjustments paved the way for her future success in cheerleading and
gymnastics. According to her Facebook bio, Alexis still loves to win and she's happy
to be part of her cheer squad. Her Twitter feed is full of photos in full pageant looks,
as well as cheer squad competitions and videos of her incredible tumbling skills.
Lacey-Mae Mason made history as the first child with dwarfism to appear on Toddlers
& Tiaras. According to the Daily Mail, Mason was born with achondroplasia, a condition
that affected her height. She was the same size as a toddler when she appeared on the
show even though she was already 8 years old. Her mom Kerry Ann explained how she got her
start, telling the Hudson Wicked Local,
"I wanted her to do one pageant so she would have that one participation trophy on her
shelf to be able to say later, for her self-esteem, that 'I was in a beauty pageant.'"
But it appeared that Lacey-Mae was ready for more than just a participation award — she
wanted to win. The star surpassed everyone's expectations when her big smile and creative
costume won her the Overall Best Outfit of Choice award. And she's still surprising fans
today, in all the best ways. After the show, Lacey-Mae went on to become an anti-bullying
and dwarfism awareness activist. She runs the "Peace By Piece" Dwarfism Awareness and
Anti-Bullying Facebook page where she posts educational content, inspirational messages,
and, of course, a few adorable photos of animals…because stepping out and changing the world just might
be a little easier with a few furry friends by your side.
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