He was wrong. It was actually the other way around, with Miss Philippines as the victor. The pageant’s host comedian Steve Harvey, also a talk show host, misread the card which he said had Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the victor.
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To make matters worse, Harvey took to Twitter and stated, “I want to apologize emphatically to Miss Philippians and Miss Columbia”.
Host Steve Harvey inadvertently announced the wrong victor of the Miss Universe pageant tonight in Las Vegas. By that time, Colombia contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was already wearing the crown as this year’s Miss Universe victor.
“Listen, folks. Let me just take control of this”, Harvey went on to tell the bewildered audience. “This is exactly what’s on the card”, he continued.
In a statement, the pageant said the “excitement of live TV was evident” with more than 10 million people turning into the Las Vegas event. It was my mistake. “We feel so badly, but it’s still a great night”.
The pronouncement drew gasps from the crowd as a stunned Wurtzbach made her way to the front of the stage to be crowned instead. (Not that blaming the contestants was really on anyone’s minds.) Harvey then took to Twitter to repeat his apology albeit without spellchecking first.
In the end, it was a glorious win for Miss Philippines, the new Miss Universe 2015. This was a terribly honest human mistake. “I can show it to you right here”. The incredibly awkward outcome: Miss Colombia was uncrowned, and Miss Philippines crowned.
According to her profile on the official Miss Universe website, Gutierrez lives in Bogotá with her pets, and her family and friends call her “Cat Lady” because she loves her two cats so much.
At the very moment of Harvey’s mistake, the internet exploded.
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The organization that includes the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants, formerly owned by NBCUniversal and Donald Trump, is now owned by entertainment company WME-IMG.
