Alden Richards. Image: Instagram/@aldenrichards02
Alden Richards is aware of his “Steve Harvey” moment at the Miss Universe Philippines (MUPh) coronation night, when he accidentally messed up the announcement of candidates during the Special Awards portion.
During the national tilt’s coronation last May 13, Richards caught the attention of pageant fans after he mistakenly named Agusan del Norte’s Jannarie Zarzoso as Miss Friendship — even if the winner was actually Capiz’s Shayne Maquiran. It turned out that Zarzoso was the winner of the pageant’s Face of Social Media Award.
The slip-up is akin to Harvey’s infamous mistake at the Miss Universe 2015 pageant, where he accidentally announced Colombia’s Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner, even though Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach was supposed to be crowned.
Weeks after the MUPh coronation, Richards apologized for the error during an interview with showbiz writer Ogie Diaz, as seen in a vlog uploaded on the latter’s official YouTube channel last Saturday, May 20.
“Nasa ilalim po [kasi] ‘yung Friendship, tapos nasa taas po ‘yung Social Media. Eh, Friendship po ‘yung una kong binanggit,” Richards explained, when asked about accidentally mixing up Zarzoso and Maquiran’s special awards.
“Wala naman pong may kasalanan, ayoko rin naman pong manisi ng tao. Na-address naman po, nasalo naman po natin siya nang maayos,” he further added.
The Kapuso star, who served as an “Eat Bulaga host prior to the MUPh coronation, expressed his gratitude to the noontime show for being his training ground.
“‘Yun din po ang pinagpapasalamat kong training sa ‘Eat Bulaga,’ kung paano ko sasaluhin [ang aking mga mali]. So, naayos naman po, nasalo naman, at pareho naman silang nanalo,” he said.
During the interview, Richards revealed that the pageant’s production stuff found his blunder to be amusing, and praised his way of moving forward from the error.
“More on natatawa po ‘yung [production team], kasi parang kung paano ko raw po na-handle ‘yung ganoong situation,” he said. “Pero kung pangit po kasi ang pagkakasalo nun, medyo ka-bash-bash po ‘yun, eh. Pero kung hindi po natin naitawid nang maayos, which is naitawid naman po. Naging maayos naman po ‘yung delivery ng awards.”
During the interview, the “Hello, Love, Goodbye” star hoped that he would host more pageants in the future.
“Masarap po sa pakiramdam eh. Different experience po siya, kaya lang may sablay noong una. [Pero], sana hindi ‘yun ang huli. Sana makapag-host pa tayo ng ibang prestigious pageant,” he stated.
Aside from Richards, actor Xian Lim and Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi also served as the pageant’s main hosts; while Tim Yap and Miss Globe 2021 Maureen Montagne hosted from backstage.
Michelle Dee was crowned as Miss Universe Philippines 2023 at the end of the pageant, while Pauline Amelinckx and Krishnah Gravidez were named as Miss Supranational Philippines 2023 and Miss Charm Philippines 2024, respectively. EDV