It was a tough night for Miss Universe Colombia Ariadna Gutiérrez-Arévalo, a bad night for the Miss Universe pageant, and an awful night for host Steve Harvey.
After days of competition, the contest had come down to just two contestants: Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines. Harvey announced the winner.
“Colombia!”
Social media across Colombia and around the world lit up with the news, as last year’s Miss Universe, Paulina Vega — also from Colombia — handed the sash and crown to her apparent successor. But Gutiérrez’ victory was short-lived.
Little more than one minute after Miss Colombia was crowned the winner, it turned out that the announcement was in error, and Gutiérrez was forced to hand over the crown to Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.
“It was my mistake,” said Harvey on air after realizing his error. “It was on the card. Horrible mistake, but the right thing.”
Harvey took to Twitter to apologize but flubbed again, misspelling Colombia and Philippines. The tweet has since been deleted and replaced with one spelled correctly.
“Unfortunately, a live telecast means that human error can come into play,” said Miss Universe representatives in a statement on Twitter. “Our sincerest apologies to Miss Universe Colombia, Miss Universe Philippines, their families and fans.”
“Everything happens for a reason, so I’m happy. I’m happy for all I did becoming this dream,” said Gutierrez backstage after the incident, seemingly taking the turn of events in stride.
Miss Philippines called the crowning “non-traditional.”
According to her profile on the official Miss Universe website, Gutiérrez lives in Bogotá with her pets, and her family and friends call her “Cat Lady” because she loves her two cats so much. She is originally from Sincelejo.
