Career
She competed in the Mission United States of America 1985 pageant as Mission Hawaii United States of America and was a semi-finalist in the nationally televised pageant broadcast live from Lakeland, Florida in May 1985. Tina Machado lost her Mission Hawaii United States of America crown after less than a week. Machado was told to step down in favor of Toni Leimomi Costa, 18, runner-up in the pageant.
Pageant director Gay Zuercher said Mission Hawaii United States of America entrants must be under 25 and it was an error when Machado--who turned 25 that November--was allowed to enter.
Zuercher called the mistake "a disappointing turn of events" but added, "Nobody"s perfect."
In 2006 it was announced that Machado would appear as a cast member on the Columbia Broadcasting System show Tuesday Night Book Club. The show was pulled after two episodes due to poor ratings.
