EXCLUSIVE: Miss USA’s first-ever MARRIED contestant gives fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse at what it’s REALLY like to compete in the iconic pageant – as she reveals her joy at rule change that FINALLY allowed her to wed her long-time partner

The winner of Miss Maine 2023 made history this year as the first Miss USA pageant to hope to get married prior to the national competition.

Juliana Morehouse, 24, spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com about her experience of the competition, which took place last month in Reno, Nevada.

The reigning Miss Maine 2023, who won her crown in November 2022, chose to walk down the aisle in April knowing the decision would make her the first ‘Mrs.’ to compete in the national Miss USA competition in September.

“We were ready to make that lifelong commitment to each other,” Juliana emphasized about her relationship with her now husband, Tayler Locklear.

Although the Portland, Maine native didn’t take home the crown at Miss USA 2023 — with Miss Utah, Noelia Voigt, winning top honors — Juliana’s presence as a married contestant was history-making in itself.

In August 2022, the Miss USA organization announced that women who were married or even divorced would be welcome to compete for the first time in its 71-year history, beginning with the 2023 pageant circuit.

“For my husband and me, this news has turned our world upside down in the best way. Finally, these two big dreams of mine were no longer in conflict. We could now get married and I could compete in Miss USA,” Juliana said of her feelings when she heard about the new rules.

Before saying yes, Juliana had been competing in pageants since she was a teenager – a passion that apparently runs in her family, with her mother, Lynn Jenkins, winning Miss North Carolina in 1994 before placing third at Miss USA.

“My mother was my first inspiration to dive into the world of pageants,” Juliana said.

She looked up to her mother and her achievements from a “young age,” she added. At the age of seven, she even had a Miss USA-themed birthday party, as she recently revealed on Instagram.

Juliana eventually participated in her first pageant at the age of 16. “From that moment on I was hooked,” she admitted.

“Not only was I fascinated by the glamor of the pageant world, but I was also intrigued by the significant personal growth that comes with preparing for the competition.”

Juliana met her now husband Taylor, owner of a drywall installation company in South Carolina, during her senior year of high school at a Christmas party in 2017.

Not long after, the two started dating – but Juliana’s dream dreams meant they had to put their commitment in the form of marriage on hold, even after five years of a happy relationship.

That is, until the rule changes.

“We love each other very much, and we didn’t want to wait any longer to come together in that supernatural union before God,” Juliana emphasized as she married her boyfriend as soon as the updated rules went into effect.

Why, in the logic of the pageant, does she believe there was such a long-standing stigma when it came to married or divorced contestants?

“I think women may not have been considered eligible ‘singles’ at conception if they were already married,” Juliana reasoned.

“But as the spectacle evolved, it gained attention from our culture. There is this idea that women need to achieve certain things before they get married.

“On the contrary,” Juliana continued, “I have noticed that my husband has been a great supporter in my efforts, which has ultimately made me a stronger woman than before.”

Of the reactions she observed to the rule change, the pageant winner added: “Many people with traditional mindsets reacted negatively to the change because they wanted everything to be done the way it has always been done.

“However, married women across the country started participating in their state elections.

“I may have been the only married woman at Miss USA this year, but you can be sure you’ll be seeing more on stage in the years to come.”