In an epic fail at the 64th edition of the Miss Universe beauty pageant, the host of the show, comedian Steve Harvey, announced the wrong contestant as the victor.
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“Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines”, he added as the music began anew, with the Colombian contestant left like a deer in headlights and the actual victor, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, looking stunned and mouthing “What?”
It could have been two Miss Universe titles in a row for Colombia but soon after Guiterrez took her first walk as the victor, the host admitted to have made a mistake in announcing the winners.
Harvey did not stick around, swiftly heading for stage right as Miss Philippines took her place beside Miss Colombia, still clutching her flowers and wearing the crown. Gutierrez was then forced to remove the crown and hand it over to Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. She said she has no problem with it.
Vulture’s Joe Adalian, a veteran television industry reporter, said it “wouldn’t shock me” if the crown switcheroo was actually a planned stunt.
“Very sad what happened last night at the Miss Universe Pageant”, he tweeted.
Trump said on “Today” that the new owners are “tremendous people” and that Harvey is a “great guy”. “The first word is ‘Colombia.’ It is my mistake”. When the business partners split up in the midst of a Trump campaign controversy, the giant talent agency WME/IMG took control of the pageant.
The women, between ages 19 and 27, represented 83 countries.
For the first time, viewers at home are casting votes making them equal to a fifth judge determining the final result.
The other owner was Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal.
The former star of the “Celebrity Apprentice” reality show sued both companies, settling with NBC in September, which included buying the network’s stake in the pageants.
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Trump later sold Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to WME-IMG. She had earlier been named the runner-up.
