When the cast of judges was announced for the unexpectedly highly-anticipated new series Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants, some viewers might have been a bit confused.  The experts who will be evaluating our mother-daughter duos through this special pageant are Shanna Moakley, Carson Kressley, and Cynthia Garrett.

One of the judges is a completely obvious choice, but the other two might not have been immediately apparent.


Shanna Moakley was an obvious pick for a judge on Crowned. Her experience both as a pageant contestant herself AND a star of a family-centered reality television series, Meet the Barkers, made her a completely perfect pick for this show. In fact, she's so perfect, one can't help but be shocked she's not an executive producer for the show. Her own management team should have been pitching this idea to the networks ages ago.

And Carson Kressley might not be as immediately obvious, but it doesn't take long for that light bulb to go on either. Gay men – whether as make-up artists, hairstylists, designers or drag queens – have been counseling women on how to maximize their femininity for years. It's a stereotype, yes, but since Carson's career is based on Queer Eye – a show that buys into some straight and gay stereotypes wholesale – I don't think he'd mind too much. Plus you can't ignore the element of winking camp that's inherent in pageantry and that also dovetails nicely into Carson's whole persona.

But Cynthia Garrett? How does she fit into the picture? In fact, who is she, exactly?

Cynthia's career has truly run the gamut. She's been a late night chat show host, taking over for Later after Greg Kinnear's departure. She's been a daytime chat show host, appearing with Jules Asner and Kimora Lee Simmons on the Life and Style show.

She's apparently also hosted Scandinavia Next Top Model (?!?), performed in The Vagina Monologues, and had her own inspirational jewelry line on QVC. The line included pendants inscribed with uplifting words like “Dream” and “Believe” and a quote from Cynthia that says, “Faith is…knowing that everything you are is everything you need to soar.”

Her career might seem so all over the map that it would seem to indicate someone who might be pursuing fame or entertainment success no matter what the venue. But maybe that's the cynical take. Cynthia's own take on her unorthodox career, which has now led her to a judging stint on Crowned, is a bit more positive.

She has said, "I think a large part of the risks that I've felt compelled to take in my life have to do with the fact that I really don't want anyone putting me in a box. I think that's the worst thing in the world, to feel like you're in a box."

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Lasplash.com, Broadway.com
(Photo courtesy of Dimitrios Kambouris)