Las Vegas Weekly

October 7, 2008 · 12:17 PM

Here today, gone tiara for Miss America at Donny & Marie show

By Robin Leach

Photo: Miss America Organization

Kirsten Haglund with Donny (wearing crown, weeping) and Marie.

Photo: Harrah's

Kirsten Haglund, now wearing the crown, with Donny and Marie.

Photo: Harrah's

Marie Osmond tries on 2008 Miss America Kirsten Haglund's crown.

The one show on the Strip that Miss America Kirsten Haglund wanted to see was Donny & Marie Osmond at the Flamingo. But she’d had no time to make advance plans and discovered it was “sold out”! Rather than let her go disappointed I made one phone call followed by two emails –- and voila! Singer Donny and Flamingo president Don Marrandino rustled up two tickets squeezed her into a VIP booth – and greeted her backstage after the show!

“It was so great and enjoyable,” said a delighted Miss America. “Just what I needed to cap my visit here.” And as our exclusive photos show even Donny and Marie joined in the fun posing with the prized crown. Kirsten had never met Donny before, but had met Marie once before briefly when they worked together on the Children’s Miracle Network telethon.

Meantime now the Flamingo headliner show has successfully opened Marie allowed Entertainment Tonight’s cameras in for an interview -- and you can click on the arrow to watch it for yourself.

Marie admitted that divorces have damaged her “love life” -- and she doesn’t even know with all her new smart and healthy weight loss that she’ll find a new man or give marriage another chance. “It would have to be a miracle,” she said. “I’ve been damaged, and when you go through two (marriages) — and if you ask any woman who’s been through it —you give your heart so much, and then you’re kind of like, 'Oof.' It’s that fear of letting somebody in again. I’ve had wonderful offers by many, many sweet people. And I don’t mind going to dinner and things like that, but the peace comes from knowing my kids are okay first. The biggest thing for moms, and I know that everybody out there will agree, is that if your family isn’t taken care of, if your kids aren’t happy ... you’re not happy. And so it was really a methodical pacing to get it all put into play, and it’s all starting to work now and gel, so it feels really good.”

She also revealed why she wanted to lose weight: “Heart disease runs in my family, and I was feeling every symptom, and so it really made me go, Okay, how do I do this quick? How do I do this smart? How do I be healthy? I don’t want to be skinny, I want to be healthy. And so I looked at all the options and, actually, I found NutriSystem. They didn’t find me.” I was doing Dancing with the Stars, and I guess the press found out I was on NutriSystem, and that’s how the whole (commercial) thing happened.”

From Las Vegas, Kirsten flew to Dallas, Texas to take part in a Bon Voyage WishFlight party. She took six Wish kids and their families on American Airlines to Orlando for an all-expense paid week long vacation.

Yesterday (Monday) Kirsten attended a ceremony dedicating a new villa at the Give Kids the World Village. American Airlines has underwritten a three-year pledge through its “Something mAAgic Foundation” to house additional families in Orlando on the WishFlight trips. Kirsten hosted a welcome party for 31 new Wish kids last evening. (Monday).

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