A mother–daughter pageanting duo made history after they both successfully won the Miss Texas crown but more than 30 years apart.
Now, the pair have revealed exclusively to Daily Mail the truth behind their pageant success, and the industry’s dark side.
Sadie Schiermeyer, aged 22, achieved the title of the 88th Miss Texas on June 28, 2025. Her mother, Arian Archer Orlando, aged 51, held the same honor in 1994, marking them as the inaugural mother-daughter duo to both win the Miss Texas title.
Speaking to the highs and lows of being a pageant queen, Schiermeyer said that navigating social media has been tough.
‘I still get hate comments, I still have people being very mean and so I think that is kind of the harder thing to navigate,’ she said.
‘I frequently hear remarks like, “you’re just a pretty face” or “we should focus on intelligent girls,”‘ the pageant winner mentioned, noting she completed her education with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Sadie Schiermeyer, 22, was crowned as the 88th Miss Texas in June
Schiermeyer’s mom Arian Archer Orlando, 51, received the same title in 1994
‘There’s a lot of assumptions that are made, she said. ‘I think people just like to tear confident people down.’
Schiermeyer described a recent slew of hate comments she got on her popular TikTok account – which has gained over 750,000 likes in total.
‘Recently, I had a TikTok video that drew considerable attention. Truthfully, most negative feedback I received was about my foundation being too light,’ she shared.
Schiermeyer has since disabled comments on the video, which now has nearly nine million views, and she added an edit to her original caption saying, ‘EDIT: GUYS I KNOW MY MAKEUP IS PALE the lighting and weeks old tan got me bad! The mean comments are unnecessary and will be deleted.’
Her mother experienced different hardships in her own pageanting days. Orlando said: ‘The highs were of course winning and getting the scholarship money and getting to perform and getting to promote my school program.
‘The lows were that I was just exhausted.’
Orlando continued: ‘It was exhausting and stressful. I had three or four appearances a day and only had 10 days off for the whole year, so I was just really exhausted.’
Schiermeyer added to her mom’s point, ‘I’m sure throughout the year, yes, I’ll be exhausted… As Miss Texas, you are the only Miss Texas for that year. And I think that can probably get pretty lonely, and that’s where I’m just super fortunate that I literally have somebody who’s done this before,’ she said, in reference to her mother.
‘I had a video recently that got a lot of attention on TikTok. And honestly, most of the hate comments were because my foundation was too white,’ Schiermeyer explained. A grab from that video is seen above
Schiermeyer is seen above being crowned Miss Texas last month
Despite the high–pressure competition at the heart of pageants, Schiermeyer says that the sisterhood is one of her favorite parts.
‘I’m very fortunate that I personally have not found the clashing, and the animosity,’ the 22–year–old said of the dynamics between contestants.
‘There is a reality that during the state competition, we’re all there for a week. It’s long, long days. You are exhausted. You are stressed. And so I think there is a point that you reach where there’s a little bit of tension, but I think that is to be assumed with any competition, not just pageantry,’ she added.
Orlando added that she had a similar experience 31 years ago. ‘There was some tension with a handful of girls, but it goes away. It’s just competition,’ she said.
Something that has certainly changed over the last three decades in the pageant universe is the beauty standard that the girls are held to.
‘I think there is a little bit more pressure on these girls now with the social media aspect and having to post and stay on top of it,’ Orlando said.
‘There are girls who have competed in the pageant that have done plastic surgery and who have done Botox and lip filler,’ she continued, adding, ‘Luckily this one [Schiermeyer] doesn’t do that and she’s naturally beautiful.’
A rise in plastic surgery isn’t the only aesthetic aspect of pageantry that has changed, according to the 1994 Miss Texas.
Schiermeyer’s mom is seen above (second from right) in the 1994 Miss Texas final
The smiling mom and daughter duo are seen above
‘The biggest difference I’m seeing is the style changes, obviously, the hair and the makeup, it all changes all the time,’ Orlando said.
The former title–holder also said the competition has transformed in many other ways since she took part in the 1990s.
At present, Miss America pageants have five categories which contribute to the overall score of contestants: the private interview (30 percent), fitness (20 percent), talent (20 percent), evening wear (20 percent) and on stage question (10 percent).
However, Orlando said back in her day, the biggest emphasis was on talent, followed by the interview, with the least importance being placed on evening wear and the swimsuit category – which doesn’t even exist anymore.
In 2018, the Miss America organization made a bold decision, they got rid of the iconic, albeit controversial, swimsuit competition.
‘It was honestly a little bit divisive because, on one hand it was trying to protect women from being objectified, but on the other hand, Miss America started as a swimsuit competition to celebrate the end of summer,’ Schiermeyer explained.
The pageant organization replaced swimsuit with a ‘fitness’ category, a section in which contestants showcase their physique without stripping down to a bikini.
Instead, the women are asked to wear athletic apparel and demonstrate their physical fitness on stage.
Beauty pageants have changed over the years. Pictured above the 1965 Miss America contest in Atlantic City
Schiermeyer is seen being congratulated in the contest as she was crowned Miss Texas
Schiermeyer, 22, said just having fun and wanting to make memories help he clasp the win
‘The goal for fitness is to show the judges that you are strong, healthy and full of life,’ according to the Pageant Planet website.
While their pageant experiences differed in many ways, the Texan mother-daughter duo both attributed their victory to the same skill.
The first time Orlando competed, she came 37th. ‘She did not do well,’ Schiermeyer joked.
So for her second try at Miss Texas, Orlando went in with low expectations. ‘I wasn’t expecting to even make the top 10,’ she said, ‘so then when I was in finals, I was just like, “oh, this is fun”,’ she said.
Orlando believes that she won in 1994 because she was having a good time, being relaxed and being herself.
And her daughter agrees. ‘In years past, I know when I competed, I tended to put a lot of pressure on myself,’ she said.
But this year, Schiermeyer said her mindset was, ‘you know what, I’m either going to win or this is going to be a great goodbye and I’m going to have the most fun possible because either way, I want it to be a good memory.’
‘I think because I was having so much fun that it kind of freed me up to be myself and that’s what made me succeed,’ the 22-year-old pageant queen said.
