Carrie Prejean was born in San Diego, California to Francine Coppola and William Prejean. She was raised in an evangelical Christian household in Vista, California. Prejean's parents divorced in 1988. A custody battle went on for more than a decade.
Prejean graduated in 2005 from Vista High School. She is currently a senior at San Diego Christian College, a small, evangelical liberal arts college located in El Cajon, California, and attends The Rock Church, where she volunteers with their outreach ministries. Prejean also volunteers with Luv-em-Up Ministries in El Cajon, where she works with children with developmental disabilities. Carrie Prejean is studying to become a special education teacher and also volunteers for Best Buddies, a non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities, and for the Special Olympics

Carrie Prejean has released a . . . wait for it . . . rather windy statement about being fired from her job as Miss California.
Listen up. It may be the last time she gets all of your attention.
"Let me begin by saying I treasure the opportunity I’ve had to represent the great state of California, and I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the thousands of Californians, and other Americans, I have met and who have stood with me through this controversial firestorm. One of the many enduring things about being Miss California USA was the opportunity to get to meet and know so many wonderful people. I would not be the strong, courageous woman I am today without your support, and prayers.
“I would like to thank Mr. Donald Trump and his organization for his support and defending me through the most challenging time of my life. I am so grateful for him, and the opportunity I've had to get to know him. I admire and respect him. I wish Tami Farrell the best; I know she will do a great job.
“I hope Americans watching this story unfold take away the most important lesson I have learned through all of this: Nothing is more important than standing up for what you believe in, no matter what the cost may be. I’ve done my best under the difficult circumstances to handle the vicious attacks with integrity and show respect to others, even those who don’t agree with me."
Hang on. There's more. . . .

“I worked in good faith to meet my responsibilities as Miss California USA. I have met every scheduled appearance, and responsibility, as recently as May 31. I have followed the proper protocol requested of me and haven’t made any appearances or speaking engagements without the consent or approval from the Miss California USA or Miss Universe Organizations. I have not signed with any book publisher or taken on any business proposals. As of today, June 11, 2009, I have done everything possible to honor my contract.
"I am proud to be an American, and blessed to have had the opportunity to exercise my freedom of speech. I am excited and looking forward to where God leads me in the future. I know He has big plans for me. I am proud to be the strong woman God has molded me to be. I will always stand for the truth, respectfully, and never back down.

LOS ANGELES — Carrie Prejean's Lawyer Accuses Miss California Officials of Fabricating Claims Plus Why She Was Axed From Model Agency Hollywood Reacts to Axed Miss California Pop Tarts Scene & Herd.
Carrie Prejean's Lawyer Accuses Miss California Officials of Fabricating Claims Plus Why She Was Axed From Model Agency
Carrie Prejean has been embroiled in controversy since she opposed same-sex marriage at the Miss USA Pageant earlier this year, and even after Donald Trump announced a month ago that she could keep her Miss California crown despite numerous contract breaches he gave his "blessing" for state pageant officials to strip her of her sash on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old was not informed of her termination until it hit the press on Wednesday morning and was very shocked over the decision. According to insiders, Carrie Prejean had developed a strong relationship with Donald Trump and had been in regular contact with him since the press conference in May thus was surprised he gave the green light to have coveted crown taken away.
"I am in shock that K2 Productions and the Miss California USA Pageant have taken the steps to fire Carrie Prejean today. The claim that she has an unauthorized book contract is false. She does not. The claim that she is refusing to appear is false. Carrie has been in constant contact with pageant officials seeking to fulfill her obligations," Prejean's attorney Charles LiMandri told Tarts in a statement on Wednesday.

"I have emails in my possession tied to the pageant organization as recently as last Friday citing future appearance requests for Carrie Prejean . She represented the Pageant in Las Vegas the weekend before last, and is scheduled to appear at a Special Olympics event this weekend in California, a cause dear to her heart. Everyone has been pleased with her appearances and excited to see her. If you need any further evidence of who is in bad faith: A radio host, Billy Bush says he is the person who informed Carrie she was fired. What kind of employer alerts the media before they speak to their employee?"

Even though Carrie Prejean is no longer the reigning Miss California, she is still welcome as a presenter at the Special Olympics.
"Carrie Prejean had indicated that she wanted to come as a volunteer during our Summer Games weekend. Part of the volunteer duties included presenting medals at one of our venues," a spokeswoman for the Olympics said. "We have not spoken with Carrie Prejean to confirm her attendance; however, since she has been a long-time volunteer with Special Olympics we would still welcome her participation."
However Pop Tarts has learned that this isn’t the first time Prejean has been given the flick. Her former agent, Francine Champagne at Visions Model Management Los Angeles, released Carrie Prejean from her contract just over a year ago under claims she was "problematic."
"It gets a little sticky and there are so many things that I would rather not discuss but there are certain specifications that we have to be a model and she was not keeping her commitment," Champagne told Tarts. "I just felt like she was a little nutty and I'd rather not represent someone with that mind frame and I just think she is a problem, and I did not feel that she was of the utmost professionalism and she did not follow through on her side of the bargain so therefore we decided to cut our losses and let her go."
Champagne also said that Prejean failed to act her age.
"She's definitely a handful, she needs a lot of attention, she is a little bit bossy, her mother gets involved whereas she's an adult, and she doesn't need her mom to be calling us. At this point in time, we're a professional agency that deals with professionals and if they are under 18, absolutely we deal with the parents, but once they're 18 or over, we should be dealing directly with talent, not with their parents," Champagne added. "She definitely had the potential to work well, she's a very beautiful girl, but her personality and her uptightness gets in the way and it’s definitely a personality conflict with this business and her. She will not really bode well in this industry because she is too controlling and uptight and bossy. There are a lot of issues there with her and she's not really an easy person to get along with."
Carrie did not respond to a request for comment.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Carrie Prejean has been stripped of her Miss California title.

Carrie Prejean (born Caroline Michelle Prejean on May 13, 1987) is an American model and beauty queen from Vista, California. She held the title of Miss California USA 2009, and placed first runner up in the Miss USA 2009 pageant. She gained nationwide attention over her answer to a question about same-sex marriage. She was fired on June 10, 2009, with the producers of the Miss California USA pageant citing continued breach of contract issues as the reason.
Prejean has appeared as a model for Target, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, and Nordstrom. She has also appeared in Bliss magazine, as a model for E!: Entertainment Television, at the 81st Academy Awards, and in an interactive model search competition for the NBC game show Deal or No Deal.
"The Miss California USA Organization, in conjunction with the Miss Universe Organization and with the blessing of its owner, Mr. Donald J. Trump, announced today the termination of Carrie Prejean as Miss California USA 2009, citing continued breach of contract issues," the Miss California Organization said in a statement to Access Hollywood.
The group kicked the controversial beauty queen from her post due to "contract violations including Ms. Prejean's unwillingness to make appearances on behalf of the Miss California USA organization," the pageant's Executive Director, Keith Lewis, said in a statement.
Last month, Trump decided that Prejean would be allowed to keep her crown despite racy photos of the 22-year-old surfacing on the Internet. But Lewis claims that in the weeks that followed, the beauty queen did not step up to the plate.

"Since that time it has become abundantly clear that Carrie is unwilling to fulfill her obligations under our contract and work together," Lewis' statement continued.
Billy Bush broke the news to Prejean on Wednesday afternoon when he called her for Access Hollywood and "The Billy Bush Show."
"We've just found out from Keith Lewis, your executive director there, that it's official, they have put out a statement and you have been fired," Bush said.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood Blondes
"Well, that's the first that I know about that, Billy," Prejean said.
"Really?" he continued.
"Yeah. I was just talking to my lawyer and I just got a phone call from you and I've gotten some text messages saying 'Hey, is this really true?' and I said, 'True about what?' and they said, 'That you've been fired.' And I started to laugh because everyone's been cooperating and everyone's been getting along so well," she said. "This is the first that I've heard of it. This is funny to me. I have no idea what's going on."
Trump was also involved in Wednesday's dethroning, and leant his voice to her dismissal.
"I told Carrie she needed to get back to work and honor her contract with the Miss California USA Organization and I gave her the opportunity to do so," Trump said his statement. "Unfortunately it just doesn't look like it is going to happen and I offered Keith my full support in making this decision. Carrie is a beautiful young woman and I wish her well as she pursues other interests."
Miss Malibu Tami Farrell, who was the First Runner-Up, is now Miss California.
In addition to the semi-nude photo scandal, Prejean's reign as Miss California also created headlines at the Miss USA pageant in April after she answered a question from Perez Hilton regarding her stance on gay marriage. She said she believed marriage "should be between a man and a woman."
Shanna Moakler quit the Miss California Organization, where she had served as a co-executive director back in May after Trump let Prejean keep her crown. When asked last month by Access Hollywood's Billy Bush if she would return to the group if Prejean quit, Moakler said she would.
"Absolutely," she said. "In a heartbeat.... It's not [a] 'her or me'[situation]. It's you... have to, at some point, make her take responsibility."
And on Wednesday, not long after the news broke, Moakler issued a statement to Access over Prejean's firing.
"First and foremost, my faith has been restored in the Miss Universe Organization and with Donald Trump. I believed eventually what I intimately knew would come to fruition," Moakler said.