Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner was given a second chance Tuesday by billionaire Donald Trump who came close to firing her after allegations of underage drinking, drug abuse and speculation about her love life.

Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner was given a second chance Tuesday by billionaire Donald Trump who came close to firing her after allegations of underage drinking, drug abuse and speculation about her love life.

Instead, Trump, co-owner of the Miss USA and Miss Universe contests, said Conner would go into a rehabilitation program and would not be stripped of her Miss USA title.

Media reports of blond beauty queen Conner partying at bars and nightclubs in New York -- where the legal drinking age is 21 -- began surfacing last week. The former Miss Kentucky USA turned 21 on Monday.

"Tara is going to be given a second chance," Trump told a news conference gathered to find out the fate of the beauty queen, with Miss Conor at his side.

He had expected, he went on, to terminate Connor's reign when the two met in the morning, but she impressed him with her sincerity and contriteness and the back story of her humble origins in Kentucky and the way that New York City had swept her into its vortex of wickedness and sin.

"It's a story that has happened many times to many women and men that came to the Big Apple," Trump intoned. "They wanted their slice of the Big Apple and they found out it wasn't so easy."

Conor agreed to go into rehab. In a tear-choked voice, she said: "In no way did I think it would be possible for a second chance to be given to me. You¡¯ll never know what this means to me, and I swear I will not let you down."

Trump has used the catchphrase "You're Fired" from his reality show on a beauty queen before. In 2002 he fired Miss Universe, Russia's Oxana Federova, for failing to perform her pageant duties.

The Miss Universe Organization, the producers of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA competitions, is a partnership between Trump and the National Broadcasting Co. Inc.

Editor: Donald