ALL MY CHILDREN's Southern belle, Bobbie Eakes (Krystal), is no stranger to the pageant stage, so when she sat down for lunch during a recent interview it was no surprise when the 1982 Miss Georgia and Top 10 finalist at the Miss America pageant opened up about the current problems the storied competition is facing.

"It's a shame that the Miss America pageant has lost its network [ABC]," she sighs. "You talk about AMERICAN IDOL and all of that — [Miss America] is the classic competition. It's not crude enough, I guess.

"It's ironic that the very thing that the Miss America pageant was always criticized for, which was exploiting women, is now on everything," she continues. "In fact, the Miss America pageant doesn't exploit women enough to keep its network. They can't win. It's a shame."

The 2006 Miss America Pageant will be held on Jan. 21, 2006 at the Aladdin Resort & Casino in the new host city, Las Vegas. The telecast will air live on CMT, hosted by DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES' James Denton (Mike).

[Note: For more with Bobbie Eakes, check out her full feature interview in the new issue of Weekly, on sale Dec. 5!]