Isabelle St. Cyr., the first transgender woman to compete the Miss Maine USA pageant, recalled bonding with Jordon Hudson over being at the center of negative media attention while competing in Portland over the weekend.
During an interview with People on Monday, St. Cyr., who made it into the top 10 semifinalists, revealed advice she received from Hudson about how to properly prepare for and handle backlash in the press.
“We had a conversation backstage and we were like, ‘You know, the media hasn’t necessarily been kind to us.’ We just kind of talked about how we’ve dealt with it, how to move forward, how to remain positive and when to comment and not to comment,” said 24-year-old St. Cyr, who represented the town of Monson. “I really appreciate her willingness to talk to me about the media coverage.”
Hudson, also 24, advised to do proper research before speaking with the press and to know “who’s doing these articles and when you should be commenting,” St. Cyr said.
St. Cyr explained that she and Hudson — who’s in the midst of a media firestorm due to her relationship with UNC football coach Bill Belichick — spoke before the pageant to ensure “there was no bad blood” due to headlines that pitted them against each other.
“First trans woman versus Jordon Hudson, all those articles,” St. Cyr said of some of the media coverage leading up to the pageant, where the 73-year-old Belichick was sitting in the front row.
The coach supported Hudson amid the fallout from his “CBS Sunday Morning” interview, which aired on April 27 and showed her interrupting a question about how the couple met.
After that, multiple reports said Hudson is trying to control Belichick’s career to bolster her resume.
“It definitely made us both a lot more comfortable going into the pageant that night,” St. Cyr said of their conversation. “I think we both wanted to make it clear that we had nothing to do with it and that we were just happy to be competing. So I was very thankful for that.”
St. Cyr, who is no stranger to hateful comments about her transition, went on to say that both she and Hudson expected to face backlash at the pageant.
“I think overall she just helped me to know that I wasn’t the only one that was dealing with it, obviously,” she continues of Hudson. “And she admits that a lot of backlash still showed up to the pageant that night to compete, and I as well, with a lot of backlash and a lot of people saying that I shouldn’t be there.”
St. Cyr noted that their first interaction occurred at the pageant, which took place at a Holiday Inn Portland – By the Bay.
However, they both had an “unspoken” question of how they were going address the media frenzy.
Both women made it to the semifinal round, the second day and final of the pageant on Sunday.
Hudson finished in third place, behind runner-up Mara Carpenter and Miss Maine USA winner Shelby Howell.
The former Bridgewater State University cheerleader and Belichick were spotted holding hands as they left the pageant together.
Belichick is set to appear on ESPN Tuesday, followed by an interview with Michael Strahan on “Good Morning America” Friday.
It’s unclear what Belichick will discuss and it’s unknown if Hudson will be there.
