13 things about Miss USA 2020 Asya Branch

Asya Danielle Branch is the first black woman to win Miss Mississippi and the first Miss USA from Mississippi, United States. Born in Detroit, Michigan, USA, she attended Booneville High School in Booneville, Mississippi and The University of Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Miss Mississippi USA choses Mississippi’s candidate for Miss USA, which chooses the Miss Universe candidate of the U.S. Miss Mississippi chooses the state’s Miss America candidate.

BIOGRAPHY

Branch is an American prison reform advocate, singer, model and beauty queen who works with a prison ministry program called Day1. She started singing in church performances when she was a little girl.

Branch is 5’5″ tall. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. In 2003, she and her family relocated from Michigan to Booneville, Mississippi.
2. When she joined her first beauty pageant in 2005, her father tried to talk her out of it.
3. She forgot the lyrics of her song during a recital in 2010, the same year her father was incarcerated, and did not sing again until 2012.
4. In 2016, she graduated from Booneville High School as a scholar and honor graduate on the Hall of Fame and National Honor Society.
5. From 2016 to 2020, she studied integrated marketing communication at The University of Mississippi.
6. When she competed at Miss Mississippi 2016, she was unplaced but she won the lifestyle and fitness preliminary awards.
7. She is Miss All-American City 2017.
8. She was Miss Mississippi 2017 fourth runner-up.
9. She won Miss Mississippi 2018.
10. She was a Miss America 2019 candidate.
11. She won Miss Mississippi USA 2020.
12. She was a Miss Universe 2020 semifinalist.
13. On May 5, 2024, she turned 26.

TIMELINE

Before becoming a beauty queen, Branch was a nanny for a special needs child. She has four older siblings and two younger sisters.

2018

• On June 23, 2018, she represented Tupelo at Miss Mississippi 2018 at the Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi and won the title.
• On October 2, 2018, she sang the national anthem at a Make America Great Again rally in Southaven, Mississippi.
• On December 23, 2018, she represented Mississippi at Miss America 2019 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. She was unplaced but she was second runner-up in the Quality of Life awards of the competition. In the talent portion, she sang “The Impossible Dream” from the musical “Man of La Mancha.”

2019

• On October 26, 2019, she represented Northeast Mississippi at Miss Mississippi USA 2020 at the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel Tunica in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi and won the title.

2020

• On November 9, 2020, she represented Mississippi at Miss USA 2020 and competed against 50 other candidates at the Exhibition Center and the Soundstage in Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She won the title.
• On November 10, 2020, she was interviewed by Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst on “Extra”.

2021

• On March 13, 2021, she crowned her successor Miss Mississippi USA 2021 Bailey Mae Anderson at Horseshoe Casino and Hotel Tunica.
• On May 16, 2021, she represented the U.S. at Miss Universe 2020 and competed against 73 other candidates at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, USA. She finished in the Top 21.
• On November 29, 2021, she crowned her successor Miss USA 2021 Elle Smith at the Paradise Cove Theater of the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

2022

• On October 3, 2022, she attended the coronation of Miss USA 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, USA.

2023

• On February 25, 2023, she served as a judge at Miss Kentucky USA 2023 and Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2023 at The Center for Rural Development, Somerset, Pulaski County in Kentucky, USA.
• On April 1, 2023, she hosted Miss Mississippi USA 2023 at Pearl River Resort in Choctaw with Anderson.

2024

• On February 3, 2024, she opened for Drake White at the Crossroads Arena in Corinth, Mississippi.

2025

• On March 29, 2025, she hosted Miss Mississippi USA 2025 at the Pearl River Resort in Choctaw with Anderson and Steve Azar.