The new Miss America, Abbie Stockard, sat down with the hosts of “GMA3: What you Need to Know” on Friday, doing her first ABC TV interview after winning the crown.
Stockard, 22, a Birmingham native, competed as Miss Alabama during the pageant on Jan. 5, besting 51 other women to earn the title in Orlando, Florida. She’s a student at Auburn University, where she majors in nursing. Her goal is to earn an advanced degree, a doctorate of nurse anesthesia practice, and specialize in pediatrics.
READ: Who is Abbie Stockard? Miss America 2025 is the fourth winner from Alabama
Stockard’s appearance on “GMA3″ — an afternoon spinoff of “Good Morning America” — was short, lasting just a few minutes. But Stockard managed to field a couple of questions from hosts Eva Pilgrim and DeMarco Morgan, showing poise and good humor on both topics. (Watch Stockard’s “GMA3″ interview in the video below.)
On a personal note, Morgan asked Stockard about her boyfriend, Walker Kessler, a former Auburn basketball star who now plays center for the Utah Jazz. A video showing Kessler reacting to Stockard’s win has gone viral on social media. Kessler couldn’t be at the Miss America pageant at the Disney Theater but watched Stockard’s crowning moment via a livestream on his cellphone.
As it turns out, the Jazz were playing the Orlando Magic that night at the Kia Center, not far from the Disney Theater.
“I’m not a big believer in coincidences,” Kessler said in an interview with KSL.com. “I definitely think it’s a God thing. The fact that we play in Orlando one time the whole year, and it happens to be the night of her finals night, and she wins. I mean, you couldn’t have drawn it out better.”
Walker Kessler, left, center for the Utah Jazz, played against the Orlando Magic at the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 5, 2025. The Jazz beat the Magic, 105-92. The game took place on the same night that Kessler’s girlfriend, Abbie Stockard, was crowned Miss America in Orlando.(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Stockard expressed similar sentiments when Morgan asked her to talk about “the juicy stuff” on “GMA3,” seeking her reaction to the viral video.
“Oh, my God, it was so sweet,” Stockard said. “So you know he played in Orlando the night of Miss America. He was playing five minutes away from the theater, but he had told me he wouldn’t be able to come because the game started 30 minutes before Miss America did. And I didn’t think he was coming because they usually hop on a plane after every game to go to the next city.
“I saw this video, and the next thing you know, he’s at the hotel after I was crowned, there to surprise me,” Stockard continued. “And it was just the sweetest thing ever. … It was such a fate thing. Like, what are the odds? He plays over 80 games, and the one time he’s in Orlando, it’s the same night I’m crowned Miss America. You can’t make that up.”
Alabama’s Abbie Stockard was crowned as Miss America 2025 on Jan. 5, 2025, at the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando, Florida.(Courtesy of Miss America IP LLC)
Stockard was even more eloquent when asked to explain what she hopes to accomplish as Miss America. Over the next year, she’ll travel across the country, make public appearances, connect with people she meets and serve as a brand ambassador for the Miss America organization. Stockard also will use her platform to raise awareness about her philanthropic effort, Be the Change: Find a Cure — Cystic Fibrosis Awareness.
“My plan is to use this opportunity to be a source of power and light,” Stockard said on “GMA3.” “I am so honored to represent such an iconic and inspirational organization. I want to use this platform to truly touch the lives and the hearts of the people across our nation.
“One of my goals is to boost recruitment, showcasing the beauty and the intention of this organization and showing young women that you have to fit a certain mold to find or thrive in this organization,” Stockard continued. “I have acquired over $89,000 in tuition scholarships, so I will be graduating completely debt-free from my bachelor of science and nursing degree from Auburn University. And so I’m hoping to show young women and empower them to get involved in this organization. Because just like me, one decision has changed my entire life.”
“And something I’m very, very excited about is my work with cystic fibrosis,” Stockard said. “My best friend has CF. We became inseparable at the age of 9. And I will never forget seeing her laying helplessly in a hospital bed, hooked up to oxygen, struggling to breathe. It sparked a fire in me at a young age that this was more than just a friendship. This was my purpose, to fight for her and fight for others that have this disease. I have been named a national ambassador of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. And so I am thrilled to use this position of influence to amplify my impact and hopefully get closer and closer to finding a cure.”
READ: Miss Alabama 2024 Abbie Stockard: ‘I’m going to make the state proud’
