Oops! Miss Universe host announces wrong winner

Tuesday, 22 December 2015 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: The host of the Miss Universe pageant mistakenly announced the wrong winner on Sunday, who then had to give up the crown and hand it over to a 26-year-old actress and model from the Philippines.

It was the first edition of the annual beauty show since it was thrust into controversy when then co-owner and US presidential candidate, Donald Trump, made disparaging remarks about immigrants.

Host Steve Harvey incorrectly announced that Miss Colombia had won the 64th edition of the contest, broadcast live on the Fox television network.

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Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez (L) is crowned by Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega, also of Colombia, after Gutierrez was initially announced as the winner during the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, 20 December, 2015. Host Steve Harvey said he made a mistake when reading the card and and Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is the actual winner. REUTERS

The eventual winner, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, a Filipino-German actress and model born in Stuttgart and raised in Cagayan de Oro, was initially runner-up.

But them Harvey announced to the audience that he had made a gaffe.

Ariadna Gutierrez Arévalo, 21, of Sincelejo, Colombia, had already been crowned by Miss Universe of 2014, Paulina Vega of Barranquilla, Colombia, who was forced to remove the crown and give it to Miss Philippines. Olivia Jordan, 27, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, finished third.

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Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez (L) stands by as Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega (C) transfers the crown to winner Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach during the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, 20 December, 2015.

“I’d like to apologise wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines for my huge mistake,” Harvey said on Twitter. “I feel terrible.”

Wurtzbach appeared to take the blunder in her stride.

“It’s a very non-traditional crowning moment,” she said backstage afterward in a video clip of a conversation with Miss USA posted by the Miss Universe pageant on its Twitter feed. “It is very 2015.” Earlier, when asked why she wanted to be Miss Universe, Wurtzbach said: “I will use my voice to influence the youth and I would raise awareness to certain causes like HIV awareness that is timely and relevant to my country.”

It was the first Miss Universe title for a contestant from the Philippines in more than 40 years.

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Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach waves after being crowned Miss Universe at the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada 20 December, 2015. REUTERS

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