Steve Harvey made the ultimate gaffe at the 2015 Miss Universe pageant – crowning the wrong contestant the winner.

Steve Harvey Names Wrong Miss Universe

At the end of the Miss Universe pageant Sunday evening, Harvey was tasked with naming the successor to the crown. The comedian first announced that Miss USA, Olivia Jordan, was the third runner-up. He then named Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo, as the night’s big winner, which meant that Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurzbach had placed in second.

After Miss Universe 2014, Paulina Vega had already crowned Arevalo Miss Universe, Harvey revealed that he had made a mistake and Vega was forced to remove the crown from Arevalo’s head to pass it over to Wurzbach.

Wurtzbach attempted to find Aravelo following the competition, but soon realized that the runner-up was still recovering from the shock. In interviews that followed, Wurtzbach expressed her hope that Aravelo and others wouldn’t take the mistake out on her. “I did not take the crown from her,” Wurtzbach told reporters after the pageant concluded, adding that she hopes that Aravelo and the Latin American community at large understand that “none of this was my fault. None of this was done on purpose. It was an honest mistake.” In a lighter moment, Wurtzbach admitted, “It’s a very non-traditional crowning moment, isn’t it?” she said. “It’s very, very 2015.” As for Aravelo, despite being disappointed and upset, handled the reality of her defeat graciously. “Everything happens for a reason, so I’m happy for all [that] I did,” she said in a video uploaded by the Miss Universe organization. “Thank you for voting for me. Thank you…” Harvey, who was facing a lot of criticism after his live TV gaffe, took to Twitter to apologize. “I’d like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake,” Harvey tweeted. “I feel terrible. Secondly, I’d like to apologize to the viewers at that I disappointed as well. Again it was an honest mistake. I don’t want to take away from this amazing night and pageant. As well as the wonderful contestants. They were all amazing. ”

 

Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump, the former owner of the Miss Universe pageant, used Harvey’s flub to suggest no such mistakes would have occurred on his watch.

“Very sad what happened last night at the Miss Universe Pageant. I sold it 6 months ago for a record price. This would never have happened!”

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