Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach
By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
If you don’t want to know what happened in the Miss Universe pageant tonight, stop reading.
It had to be easily the most bizarre moment ever in the Miss Universe Pageant or perhaps in any pageant ever.
It left the crowd in Las Vegas stunned, with many jeering and others cheering.
This was an ending people will be talking about for some time.
Awwwwwkwwwwwaaaaard. #MissUniverse2015 pic.twitter.com/wEeVbOKTZ9
— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) December 21, 2015
The gif above says it all.
Miss Universe host Steve Harvey announced the winner of the Miss Universe pageant as Miss Columbia, Ariadna Gutiérrez.
Ariadna, as you might expect, put her hand over her mouth in shock and began to cry.
Ariadna also received the embrace and congratulations of the supposed runner up, Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. Last year’s winner Gabriela Isler of Venezuela even put the crown on Miss Columbia.
Moments later Harvey had to correct himself. The winner wasn’t Miss Columbia. It was Miss Philippines who had won. Wurtzbach didn’t quite know how to react and wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. Miss USA Olivia Jordan of Oklahoma, who had placed second runner up, whispered something in Miss Philippines ear supposedly to explain.
Harvey took full responsibility and apologized.
What made this worse was that more than a minute passed between the time Miss Columbia was announced as the winner. She soaked in the adoration of the crowd until the mistake was cleared up.
After the pageant, Harvey took to Twitter to again apologize. He said sorry to the contestants.
I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible.
— Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) December 21, 2015
He said sorry to the television viewers.
Secondly, I'd like to apologize to the viewers at that I disappointed as well. Again it was an honest mistake.
— Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) December 21, 2015
You can bet we’ll be hearing a lot more about this in the days to come.
Additional Coverage
Miss Philippines Crowned Miss Universe 2015 After Steve Harvey Mistakes Miss Colombia as the Winner
Awkward: Miss Universe Accidentally Announces the Wrong Winner, but the Crown Ultimately Goes to Miss Philippines