R’Bonney Gabriel was crowned Miss Universe 2022 at the finale of the international pageant held on 14th January 2023 in New Orleans, USA. By winning Miss Universe 2022 title, Gabriel can not fulfill her duties as Miss USA 2022. If the Miss USA is not able to complete her duties, the first runner-up takes her place.

Thus, first runner-up of Miss USA 2022, Morgan Romano from North Carolina will be crowned Miss USA 2022 at the Gogue Performing Arts Center in Auburn, Alabama during the Miss Alabama USA 2023 preliminary competition on Friday, 27th January 2023. Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney will be there to crown Morgan as the official Miss USA 2022.

Morgan Romano is a resident of Concord, North Carolina. She has a passion for STEM education for children and spends her free time volunteering with Project Scientist, an after-school program that provides a high-quality STEM curriculum to young girls. Morgan is an alumna of the University of South Carolina where she obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering in 2020. She is currently an Application Engineer at R.E. Mason in Charlotte, NC.

Although being crowned Miss USA 2022, Morgan will not be competing at Miss Universe. She will just be fulfilling the duties of Miss USA 2022 for the rest of the reign before the next Miss USA 2023 is crowned.