There was controversy at the Miss Universe competition last night as the host Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner live on air.
In a bizarre turn of events the U.S. comedian had announced Colombian contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo as the winner of the competition which was held in Las Vegas, however Harvey later revealed that he had mistakenly read from a cue card, and the actual winner was Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach from the Philippines.
In a rather harsh turn of events the infamous crown was removed and placed on the head of a mystified Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, whilst other contestants rushed to console Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo of Colombia who was stripped of the coveted title in a matter of seconds. The whole incident left the entire crowd in shock and host Harvey distressed as he was compelled to apologize on Twitter and to reporters who assembled backstage.
Harvey said: “I feel horrible for this young woman.” Harvey said it was his mistake and that he would take responsibility for not correctly reading the card, which said that Wurtzbach was this year’s winner and Colombia was actually the first runner-up. Harvey held up the card for Fox network cameras to see up close. Talking with reporters afterward, Harvey and an executive for pageant owner WME-IMG called it human error. Before adding: “Nobody feels worse about this than me.”
Meanwhile actual winner Wurtzbach appeared stunned as she walked to the front of the stage alongside the crown-wearing Gutierrez before last year’s Miss Universe from Colombia removed the crown and placed it on Wurtzbach’s head. A shocked Wurtzbach later said she felt conflicting emotions as the mistake happened: “I felt joy when I was told I had indeed won, altough i was concerned for Gutierrez and confused by the whole situation.”