Nicole Johnson

Nicole Michele Phelps (née Johnson) (July 12, 1985) is an American model and beauty queen who was Miss California USA 2010 and competed in the Miss USA pageant.

Johnson, the daughter of teacher and a pharmaceutical sales manager, was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, grew up in Pennsylvania and then moved to Westlake Village, California, prior to starting middle school. She graduated from Westlake High School in 2003. When Johnson was 17, she read an advertisement in the Thousand Oaks Acorn for Miss California Teenager. Johnson, a Moorpark College student at the time, wanted to transfer to the University of Southern California and thought the scholarship would help pay her education. Out of 304 contestants Johnson took first runner-up.

In 2007, Johnson graduated with honors from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, concentrating in sports and entertainment.

After previously being first runner-up in the 2007 pageant, Johnson won the Miss California USA 2010 title in November 2009. She went on to compete in the Miss USA 2010 pageant held in Las Vegas where she placed ninth. She had been considered a favorite to win the title.

On February 21, 2015, Johnson became engaged to swimmer Michael Phelps. Johnson and Phelps had first met at the 2007 ESPY Awards. They started dating in 2009 and temporarily broke up prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics before reuniting in 2014. Their son, Boomer Robert Phelps, was born May 5, 2016. On June 13, 2016, the couple wed in a private ceremony.