As the next edition of the Miss Universe pageant, to be held in the Philippines, approaches, host Steve Harvey again found the opportunity to explain his gaffe, which consisted of announcing Miss Colombia as the 2015 Miss Universe instead of our very own Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.
In an episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” aired on Monday, Harvey elucidated how a simple “miscommunication” from the crew prompted him to utter Miss Colombia’s Ariadna Gutierrez as the contest’s winner.
“It wasn’t that quick,” Harvey told Fallon. “It was four minutes of pure hell.”
“It was crazy man,” he recalled. “Look, I’m a smart guy. I can read. I read the teleprompter. But the guy in my ear said, ‘Read the next name.’ Now the teleprompter had just said ‘and the new 2015 Miss Universe is,’ and he said, ‘Read the next name now.’ So I said Miss Colombia. [The] crowd goes crazy and he says ‘Great job, Steve.'”
Once he went backstage, the “Family Feud” host, 59, said he heard “explicit words” stuffing the air, just to realize the mix-up of the two beauties’ titles. The pageant organizers thought of holding a press conference to announce the correction, but Harvey risked his reputation by going back on stage to announce that the Filipino beauty queen was the rightful winner.
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He recalled, “I said ‘Nah man, I’m gonna go and do it now’, and I walked out there.” he said. “I was part of that blame, man. I went out, faced whatever that is.”
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Nevertheless, Harvey has clinched a deal with Miss Universe and will host the pageant again in the Philippines on Jan. 30, 2017, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
He was also on the Fallon show to introduce his newest book entitled “Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance.”
Last September, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo said that President Rodrigo Duterte wished Harvey out as the pageant’s host next year. However, her department announced Harvey will host the international beauty competition during which he will use the opportunity to sincerely apologize for depriving Wurtzbach’s shining moment in last year’s coronation. Gianna Francesca Catolico