Five years ago, Amber Uhler got stuck in a foam pit at a trampoline park, in front of her children. Three men initially failed to remove the American, who then weighed around 136 kilos. The firefighters even almost had to intervene. “I have never been so humiliated in my life,” the 41-year-old told People magazine.
But today, Amber Uhler is about 150 pounds lighter and just competed in the Miss USA pageant as Miss Michigan.
At the time, Amber was overweight and prediabetic. A few days before the incident at the trampoline park, her doctor had sternly warned her that her state of health might prevent her from living long enough to see her children graduate from university.
The latter had three children in four years. Subsequently, she experienced more and more difficulties with her weight and physical condition. She felt like she was only living “half a life.” Even walking up the stairs at her house had become difficult.
“I needed a crazy goal”
After her doctor’s warning and the incident at the trampoline park, Amber decided to change her life. She then set herself an unusual goal: to one day participate in a beauty pageant. “I knew I wanted to lose a ton of weight and needed an equally crazy goal to achieve it,” she explains.
Over the next three and a half years, Uhler lost about 150 pounds, mostly due to a change in diet, she says. Physical activity also played a role in her transformation, although sport never became an activity she particularly enjoyed or found easy.
Instead, she incorporated more movement into her daily life, including walking with her children or playing with them at the park.
Uhler finally achieved his goal. In 2024, she was elected Mrs. Florida Universe, then won the title of Mrs. Universe USA in 2025. Now 41 years old, she has just participated in the Miss USA pageant as Miss Michigan USA. She was the oldest candidate this year.
After everything she went through, Uhler herself found it hard to believe that she would one day be able to parade in a bikini in a beauty pageant in front of millions of people. “I know, I’m crazy,” she joked.
She didn’t win the crown. It was Justus Kelley, 31, who won. This is the first time in the history of Miss USA that a married woman and mother was elected.
This was not necessarily the most important thing for Amber Uhler. She wanted to deliver the message that the past should not determine the future. “You can rewrite your own history.”
