Kailia Posey Death

Kailia Posey Death:- Kailia Posey, an actress who appeared on one memorable episode of TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras, which led to a popular GIF, has died, according to a Facebook post by her mother, Marcy Posey Gatterman. Her cause of death was not announced. She was 16. Posey appeared at age 5 on the show in and episode titled “California Tropic Arizona.” She competed in that pageant against two other girls featured on the show in 2012. While it was her only appearance, a cute clip of the five year old scrunching up her neck with a silly smile on her face became a GIF that caught fire on the internet and was dubbed “grinning girl.”

Posey was pronounced dead in Birch Bay State Park, in Washington, at around 1.20pm on Monday, Washington State Patrol (WSP) Trooper Jacob Kennett confirmed. Kennett said WSP was summoned to the park at 1.26pm to assist the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office with a “juvenile death investigation.” Earlier reports suggested that Posey had been involved in a car accident in Las Vegas. While confirming that Posey actually died in her home state of Washington, Kennett said he was unable to comment on whether or not a vehicle was involved in her death.

In honor of her daughter, Gatterman shared several photos of Poesy from her pageant days and changed her profile photo to one of the teenager as an angel. A cause of death has not been publicly announced. Us Weekly reached out to the authorities in Whatcom County, Washington, for confirmation. The Whatcom County Medical Examiner was unable to comment as an investigation is currently ongoing.

Posey was best known for her role on TLC’s Toddlers and Tiaras, the same series that launched the career of Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and aired for nine seasons from 2009 to 2013. The Lynden, Washington, native started her pageant career at 3 years old, and her mother was her biggest fan. “She’s a pro when she hits that stage,” she told producers on the series. “She’ll say she’s nervous but once she hits that stage she’s a pro. She’s gonna beat you, every time.” Appearing on the series at 5 years old, the show followed Posey and her mother as she competed in the California Tropic Arizona pageant.

Becoming one of the most recognizable faces on the show after her reaction to an interview became a popular meme, she continued to compete in pageants. In January 2022, the high schooler announced she would be competing in Miss Washington Teen USA. Finishing in the top 3 a month later, she took to Instagram to share the news. Posey captioned the post, “One word. Thankful.”

Following the show, Posey continued to compete in pageants and branched out into acting, appearing in the 2019 Netflix horror film Eli. In January, Posey announced that she would be a contestant in the 2022 Miss Washington Teen pageant after winning Miss Lynden Teen 2021. “One word. Thankful,” the high schooler wrote via Instagram alongside several photos from the event in February, where she was named second runner-up.

Documenting the lives of families as they prepared for and trained their children to compete in beauty pageants, Toddlers & Tiaras premiered in 2009 and ran until 2013. Posey appeared in multiple episodes from 2011-2012, and almost instantly became a standout thanks to her natural talent. She would later become even more famous for something that will live on the internet forever: an expression that, over the years, has become immortalized as a popular reaction GIF on social media.

Despite some criticism from parent groups about how the show portrayed its young competitors, many of Toddler & Tiara’s young stars gained prominence and went on to take part in national competitions over the years. That included Posey, who according to her Instagram competed in multiple beauty pageants throughout her childhood and was crowned Miss Spotlight West Coast in a 2015 national pageant.

Kailia Posey was only five years old when she appeared on Toddlers and Tiara, which got into hot water a few times when it aired from 2009 to 2013. The pageant pro appeared on a fifth season episode of the TLC show, which launched the career of Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and Little Rascals alum Eden Wood. In the installment, viewers watched as the young lady trained for the California Tropic Arizona pageant under her mother’s watchful eye.

Of course, the moment from the episode that truly stands out occurred during one of her interviews. It was during that moment that the young lady grinned enthusiastically. Since then, the shot has been used as both a meme and gif, which is still used by many across the interwebs to this day. It’s for that reason that she remains one of the most recognizable faces from the series.