Bethany Joy Lenz crowned Queen Azalea at coronation

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The Azalea Festival is underway today and will start with the coronation of Queen Azalea Bethany Joy Lenz.

“Any moment there is honor given to you for any reason, anything you feel you may not deserve or anything you never imagined something that lovely or beautiful would happen, I think we can all relate to that and that’s what being crowned felt like to me,” said Lenz after being crowned.

Lenz is best known for playing Haley James Scott for ten years on ’One Tree Hill‘, which was filmed in Wilmington.

“When I got here I was 21, I was just a kid,” said Lenz. “I didn’t know where I was going, what I was doing except I had a place to show up and say lines and what it became was a home, a real home. This place is so meaningful to me.”

She also became a bestselling author last year when she released her memoir ’Dinner For Vampires‘, the story of how she was manipulated into joining a religious cult while working on the show and her determination to finally break free after a decade..

Lenz says Wilmington remains a special place for her and that makes the honor of being Queen even more special.

“My heart is so deeply tied to Wilmington and to North Carolina that I’m so honored to be able to serve in this capacity to help celebrate the pride of Wilmington and the pride of what this, the coastal city to the, to the mountains. To be able to celebrate the hard-working people, the industry and then of course the gardens and flowers and how just Mother Nature shows up,” Lenz said.

WECT’s Jon Evans interviewed Lenz for his ‘One-on-one With Jon Evans’ podcast.

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