Audrey Eckert, who held the title of Miss USA 2025, is engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Austin Schneider. Schneider proposed on Oct. 24, exactly one year after Eckert was crowned, marking a new milestone in a relationship that began in high school.
A Two-Month Plan Comes Together at The Mercury Room
Eckert, who represented Nebraska at both the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, has dated Schneider for seven years, according to The Kansas City Star. Schneider and his sister, Sydney, spent two months planning the proposal at The Mercury Room, a rooftop cocktail lounge in the Crossroads Arts District, and decorated the space with flowers and candles.
The Star reported that Sydney Schneider, a commercial and sports photographer who works with the Kansas City Chiefs, photographed the proposal. The couple later celebrated with family at 1587 Prime, the steakhouse co-owned by Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
The Crossroads setting
The Mercury Room’s Tock listing describes it as a top-floor venue at REVERB in the Crossroads Arts District, with views of the Kansas City skyline. Flatland KC reported that REVERB is a 14-story building at 18th and Walnut. For the family celebration, 1587 Prime is at 1500 Baltimore Avenue inside the Loews Hotel, according to KCTV5.
A Sapphire Nod to Her Pageant Reign
Schneider added a personal detail to the engagement ring: a blue sapphire set inside the band as a tribute to Eckert’s Miss USA title, according to the report. During her reign, Eckert wore the pageant’s Infinite Dreams Crown, which features 602 lab-grown diamonds, 43 cultured pearls, 31 sapphires and a London blue topaz.
Reflecting on their years together, Eckert told People she valued marrying someone who had been beside her through “so many versions of yourself,” as reported by The Kansas City Star.
From a Pageant Stumble to a Happy Ending
The engagement follows an awkward moment during Eckert’s final appearance as Miss USA at the August pageant in Miami. Accounts differ about the falls: The Star reported that she fell twice onstage while handing over her crown, while BollywoodShaadis described one fall backstage and another during her final walk onstage.
Eckert said she took time to process the incident and later found it “really humbling,” according to The Kansas City Star. Her engagement marks a happier milestone after a year that included both her pageant reign and its public ending.
