Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson visited "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Thursday and revealed that "a lot of people" told her not to perform the monologue about her work as a nurse for the talent portion of the Miss America 2016 pageant.
"I am a nurse and that's my talent is taking care of people and caring about other people," the 22-year-old beauty told Ellen DeGeneres when she appeared on the comedian's daytime talk show. "I wanted to give the nurses that don't have that voice, that voice and that recognition of somebody going up there and just being a little bit different and unique."
Kelley, who had a stethoscope slung around her neck during her talent performance, added that she hoped her anecdote about Alzheimer's patient Joe would resonate with Americans affected by the disease, Today reported. She even revealed he reminded her of why she became a nurse in the first place.
"I talked about a patient that I took care of who had Alzheimer's - and I know that that hits home for a lot of people and it's not something that's really easy for people to talk about - and I just thought, 'You know, I want to go up there and I want to be authentic," she stated. "I want to be Kelley. And if I'm ever going to win Miss America, or win Miss Colorado, I want to do it being myself. And I'm a nurse!"
Kelley, who was the second runner-up to the winner Betty Cantrell, also told the 57-year-old host that she does not regret her choice.
"It was just so much fun to perform that and see it trend on Twitter and Facebook, especially being able to bring all those nurses together and have everybody standing up for our profession and giving them the voice that they deserve," she said. "They work so hard and they are lifesavers and that was all the message I wanted to give. It's about them, not about me."
To recall, "The View" co-hosts Joy Behar and Michelle Collins made some controversial comments about Kelley's speech, which led to a backlash on social media as nurses called for an apology and the hashtag #NursesUnite trended. The duo abruptly explained their remarks on the show on Wednesday, Us Weekly informed.
"I was just not paying attention," Joy said. "I didn't know she was a nurse. I'm used to seeing them in gowns and bathing suits. It's not like I was trying to be funny. It was just stupid and inattentive on my part."
On the other hand, Michelle asserted that they were talking about the talent competition and "it got misconstrued." "We love nurses. We adore you. We respect you," the host said.