Update!

Miss USA Nia Sanchez: I Didn't Fake Nevada Residency to Compete—"This Is My Home!"

California-born beauty queen explains she lived in Nevada "almost a year-and-a-half" before entering pageant, which only requires six-month residency in state

By Rebecca Macatee Jun 13, 2014 7:57 PMTags
Nia Sanchez, Miss Nevada, Miss USA 2014Patrick Prather/Miss Universe Organization

Update: A representative for the Miss Universe organization tells E! News in a statement: "She met her requirements to compete. Nia is a great person and we know she'll be a great title holder."

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Politics and pageants aren't all that different, huh?

Miss USA 2014 Nia Sanchez found that out the hard way when almost immediately after she was crowned Sunday, rumors began to swirl that she'd somehow faked residency in Las Vegas in order to compete as Miss Nevada USA. But the beauty queen with a black belt insists that Sin City is her home, and on Thursday, she told Fox411 there was "no truth" to rumors saying otherwise.

The California-born brunette has lived "all over," she said, which includes stints in Germany, Hong-Kong, the Middle East and Africa. She moved to Nevada nearly a year-and-a-half ago (primarily for modeling and promotional gigs) and actually chose not to compete in the 2013 Miss Nevada USA pageant because she figured out she'd "lived there just under six months."

Darren Decker/Miss Universe Organization

"I wanted to go into [competition] properly, so I didn't compete last year," she said. Instead, she supported her pal Chelsea Caswell who went on to win the 2013 title. 

"I didn't want people to have anything to say," Nia said, "I did it right...I waited over a year to compete when I felt like I was ready."

Fox411 also cited a "source" claiming that she and Miss Nevada USA pageant director Shanna Moakler had a preexisting personal relationship that helped her nab the title. "I feel like it's almost hurtful to hear people say something like that, because there's no truth to it," she insisted. "I didn't know her on a personal level until after I won."

Patrick Prather/Miss Universe Organization

She insists it's fair for women to compete in a state different than the one they were born in "within the rules that the Miss Universe Organization has set up."

"They set it up for a reason," Nia said. "That's why there's the six month residency rule...[Nevada] is my home."

Don't make the girl produce her W-2s, now!

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