In the land of fantastical celebrity happenings we would like to see realized, there’s a tableau of Vanessa Williams in character as “Ugly Betty” magazine doyenne Wilhemina Slater holding court on the Miss America stage. How fitting would it be if the woman who became the first black Miss America were to return, in withering and gloriously fashionable form, more than 30 years after she was ostensibly forced to relinquish her title because of a nude photo scandal?

Well, at least one half of that imaginary circumstance is actually materializing, because Williams, 52, will be serving as head judge for the Miss America pageant ceremony.

In September 1983, Williams was crowned Miss America, winning the competition while representing New York and making history. But months later, the pageant’s executive committee voted unanimously to request that she resign after Penthouse magazine published nude photos she’d taken several years earlier, despite the fact that Williams was reportedly the most widely booked Miss America winner in the pageant’s history up to that point.

“I have been friends with Vanessa for 32 years,” Miss America Organization chairman and chief executive Sam Haskell told the Associated Press. “When the photos were published, there were people urging her to fight, but close supporters knew if she lost that fight that she would be completely removed from the history books. Instead of pursuing what would surely have been a long and stressful legal battle, Vanessa decided to resign and focus on her career. Vanessa and her family were hurt during the aftermath of the resignation, and that saddened me.”

Despite the setback, Williams went on to enjoy a long and fruitful career as an actress and singer, co-starring opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Eraser.”

She’s netted 17 Grammy nominations, one Tony nomination and three Screen Actors Guild award nods. Her recording of “Colors of the Wind” from “Pocohantas” earned her a Golden Globe, a Grammy and an Oscar for best original song.

Williams’s television resume is especially prolific (she’s been nominated for Emmys four times), her most recent prominent roles being Slater and Renee Perry on “Desperate Housewives.” She performed the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 1996 and for the 2015 U.S. Open.

“Vanessa’s career speaks for itself, with all the success that she has had,” Haskell told AP. “When I became chairman of Miss America, one of the first calls I made was to Vanessa, to try to find a way to get her to come back. ... It’s truly an honor to welcome her back to the Miss America Pageant.”

The Miss America pageant airs Sept. 13 at 9 p.m. on ABC.