Beauty pageant friends of Miss USA who died by suicide in NYC recall her encouragement in cutthroat pageant world

In the cutthroat world of high-stakes beauty pageants, Cheslie Kryst was as generous as they come.

“The first time I met Cheslie she was so encouraging and so wonderful,” said Alissa Anderegg, 27, who won the Miss World America title in 2020. “Instead of going in and being so competitive and going in cutthroat she was nothing but. She was so helpful and encouraging and loving and supportive of every single woman there.”

Anderegg was among many in the pageant community devastated by Kryst’s suicide Sunday. Kryst, 30, jumped to her death from the Orion, the W. 42nd St. building where she lived, leaving behind a note with instructions for her possessions, but with no clues about why she wanted to end her life, police said.

Miss World America Alissa Anderegg attends the Nolcha NYFW S/S 2022 shows on Sept. 12 in New York

City.

Miss World America Alissa Anderegg attends the Nolcha NYFW S/S 2022 shows on Sept. 12 in New York City. (JEMAL COUNTESS/Getty Images for Nolcha Shows)
Anderegg said Kryst, who was crowned Miss USA in 2019, inspired her to compete again after she had given up on her pageant dream.

“I kind of retired from pageants,” Anderegg told the Daily News. ”I gave up on that dream. And then I saw Cheslie win Miss USA on my TV and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, she did it.’ She inspired me to enter Miss World America in 2020. I would not have entered if not for Cheslie. I went out of retirement, I entered and I won.

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“I wish I would have made it more obvious and more clear to her about that. She inspired me [to] keep competing. But I don’t think she realized how much of an impact and how much of an inspiration she was.”

Anderegg said she met Kryst in 2015 when they were both competing for the same title, Miss North Carolina. They hit it off and stayed friends for nearly seven years.

Among the things she said she admired most about Kryst — a lawyer and an entertainment correspondent on “Extra” — was how outspoken she was.

Miss USA Cheslie Kryst appears onstage at the 2019 Miss Universe Pageant at Tyler Perry Studios on Dec. 8, 2019, in Atlanta, Ga.
Miss USA Cheslie Kryst appears onstage at the 2019 Miss Universe Pageant at Tyler Perry Studios on Dec. 8, 2019, in Atlanta, Ga. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
“You don’t see a lot of people really speaking out for what they feel because we’re supposed to be very middle of the road, appealing to everybody,” Anderegg said. “Cheslie had the guts and the determination to speak out on the issues that she knew were important. And that bravery was so inspiring.

“I think we’re all trying to wrap our heads around the fact that someone who just seemed to have it all and inspired so many people and was a light in so many people’s lives ended up losing that light within herself and it’s, it’s heartbreaking.”

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Mehr Eliezer, 25, another beauty pageant friend, said Kryst helped her through an anxiety attack during the Miss World pageant in 2019. Eliezer, who was representing Panama in the contest, said Kryst told her to tune everyone else out and to just focus on herself.

“She had a very nonchalant attitude about that,” Eliezer said. “She was like, ‘Screw everyone. Just focus on you. People hate because they don’t know the position you’re in.’”

Eliezer said she got the news about Kyrst’s death through a group chat with other pageant alums.

“As soon as I read it I called Cheslie’s phone like 100 times,” Eliezer said. “We were just hoping it was a bad dream.”

Anderegg said she cannot fathom how much pain Kryst must have been in.

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“She’s the last person I would ever think … ” Anderegg said, not completing the sentence. “Cheslie was always someone to me who was just totally so strong, and so determined. And I think it goes to show all of us those who are smiling the biggest and seem to have everything together and seem the strongest doesn’t mean that they’re not suffering. I don’t think anyone could’ve seen this coming.”