Many people from all over the world who watched the Miss Universe 2015 pageant on Sunday, December 20, would definitely agree that this rather "minor slipup" made by Steve Harvey became something strangely memorable and controversial for everyone, especially to the 2 contestants, the first runner up and the winner of the pageant.
Steve Harvey, the Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man author and known by others as the host of Family Feud, accidentally announced the wrong candidate as the winner of the Miss Universe that Sunday evening, leaving him utterly embarrassed.
At the end of the pageant, there were 3 candidates left: Miss USA - Olivia Jordan, Miss Philippines - Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, and Miss Colombia - Ariadna Gutierrez. Harvey announced Miss USA as the second runner up, but instead of announcing Miss Colombia as the first runner up, he declared that she was "Miss Universe". A few minutes after Miss Colombia was crowned, he realized the mistake, apologized and corrected himself, but it was too late. The damage was already done.
How could this happen? Two things are believed to be the culprit: The first one would be that the scorecard layout confused him, and the second probable reason would be that he was gambling and drinking shortly before the event.
To express his heartfelt apology, he wrote on his Facebook page, "I know how much pride many countries, fans and most importantly, the contestants take in preparing for this night. I hope that you can forgive me. All contestants were amazing but I want to specifically apologize to Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines again and wholeheartedly. You both represented well for your countries, families and yourselves."
In a press conference, he said "I feel horrible for the two countries. I feel horrible for the fans. It was a mistake. The dishonorable thing would be to just leave it like it was. It didn't deserve to happen that way, but it happened from an honest mistake."
The question, "Will Steve Harvey be kicked out for good at the future Miss Universe pageants due to this blunder?" surely has crossed your mind, but whether you like it or not, ET says that he will definitely be back for 2016, and even more so, since he signed a multi-year contract a few days before this year's live televised pageant. Most believe that not only has he secured himself a job for a good 3 years (and potentially 6 or 7), but also he will be earning "more than they have ever paid before as a host".
The Miss Universe 2015 (or the 64th edition of the Miss Universe) pageant was actually the first event to be held under the ownership of WME/IMG, and it looks like they are adhering to the philosophy "all press is good press" as they said that they are all as happy as clams since they "really love" Harvey and they don't have any complaints about all the extra attention the pageant is getting because of Steve's mistake.
source: cardplayer.com
