Claudia Nicole O'Brian is a former beauty queen and reality television show contestant from Friendswood, Texas, who has competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants. O'Brian was crowned Miss Texas Teen USA 2000 in a state pageant held Thanksgiving weekend 1999 in Houston, Texas. She had placed third runner-up to Misty Giles the year previously. In August 2000, O'Brian competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant held in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she became the third Texas teen in succession to make the semi-finals. O'Brian won the swimsuit portion of the semi-final competition, and was third in evening gown, and had the highest average combined score going into the final round. In that section, she slipped to third behind Kristen Johnson of Kentucky and Jillian Parry of Pennsylvania. At the conclusion of the competition, O'Brian finished 1st runner-up to Parry, Texas' highest placement since 1996 when Christie Lee Woods was crowned Miss Teen USA. She gave up her Texas title to Katherine Perallo later that year. Only eight months later, O'Brian competed in the Miss Texas USA 2002 pageant as Miss Southeast Texas USA but did not place. The following year won the Miss Bay Area USA title and went on to win the Miss Texas USA 2003 crown, in Lubbock, Texas, on July 15, 2002. She was only 19 at the time, one of the youngest titleholders in the history of the pageant. She was only the third person to win both the Teen and Miss titles. O'Brian competed at the Miss USA pageant in 2003, which was televised live from San Antonio, Texas in her home state of Texas. She placed second runner-up to Susie Castillo of Massachusetts. This made her one of the most successful delegates across the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants. O'Brian attended at San Jacinto College, majoring in radio, television and film, but she hoped of becoming an actress. In 2004, she competed on The Amazing Race 5 with her then-boyfriend Brandon. The couple came in third. The second-placed team included Christie Lee Woods, also a former Miss Texas Teen USA. O'Brian is currently a pageant consultant, preparing contestants for various Texas pageants.
