Who is Olivia Culpo?

Olivia Culpo, who was asked to cover up her crop top before boarding an American Airlines flight on Thursday, is a fashion influencer, internet celebrity, and an actress from the US.

Born in Cranston, Rhode Island, Culpo was the middle child of five siblings, and initially kicked off her career as a cellist, playing in the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, the Bay View Orchestra, and the Rhode Island All-State Orchestra.

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However, her career took a turn in 2012, when she signed up for her first pageant, the 2012 Miss Rhode Island USA competition. Culpo went on to win the 2012 Miss Rhode Island USA award, and also won the Miss USA award in the same year.

Her pageantry career hit a peak in late 2012, when she won the Miss Universe award on December 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada, becoming the eighth American to win the honour and the first since Brook Lee in 1997.

Culpo’s success in pageantry helped her gain a large following on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, which the 29-year-old leveraged successfully to collaborate with and promote major global brands such as L’Oréal, Kipling, and the like.

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Culpo’s fame also took her to the film and television industry, and she appeared in several famous television shows such as ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, ‘Model Squad’ and ‘Paradise City’. Culpo also appeared in several films in various capacities, with a cameo in ‘The Other Woman’ (2014), and as fully fleshed out characters in ‘American Satan’ (2017), ‘I Feel Pretty’ (2018), ‘Reprisal’ (2018), and ‘Venus as a Boy’ (2021). In 2014, the model also featured in Nick Jonas’ music video for ‘Jealous’.

Since summer 2019, Culpo has been in a relationship with Carolina Panthers right-back Christian McCaffrey, and also co-owns the Back 40 restaurant in Rhode Island with her family.