Upton became Miss South Carolina Teen USA for 2007 in the November 2006 state pageant. She went on to place as third runner-up in the Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant. She gained international notoriety for her convoluted and nonsensical response to a question posed to her during the August 2007 national pageant. During the pageant, Upton responded to a question posed by host Aimee Teegarden: "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?" Upton responded:
I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh, people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future. For our children.
As a guest on NBC's The Today Show, Upton told Ann Curry and Matt Lauer that she was overwhelmed when asked the question and did not comprehend it correctly. The Today Show hosts gave Upton another opportunity to answer. She responded:
Well personally, my friends and I, we know exactly where the United States is on our map. I don't know anyone else who doesn't. And if the statistics are correct, I believe that there should be more emphasis on geography in our education so people will learn how to read maps better.
Both Curry and Lauer, along with unseen crew members, applauded her response.
Post pageant career
Since then, she has modeled in advertisements for companies such as Nautica and Wrangler and has appeared in national magazines such as Seventeen, Cosmo Girl and American Cheerleader. Upton later signed a deal with Donald Trump's modeling agency in New York City. Upton appeared in Weezer's music video "Pork and Beans," which was released on May 23, 2008 where the microphone she held became a lightsaber. In the same video, she blends "Maps" in a Blendtec blender. In 2010, Upton was a contestant on The Amazing Race 16, where she is credited as Caite Upton and finished the Race in 3rd place with her then-boyfriend Brent Horne. Most recently Upton reported herself as selling real estate in Brentwood, Los Angeles. She married personal trainerCharlie McNeil in 2016 and they divorced in 2019. In December 2019, Upton announced that she was expecting her first child with boyfriend Danny White.
