At this point, people are starting to wonder why Steve Harvey is still hosting Miss Universe every year. But to be fair his latest blunder was actually the fault of whoever was running the teleprompter.
In yet another mishap that once again, involved the Philippines, Harvey announced the wrong winner for the pageant’s special award for the national costume.
Prior to introducing the winner of the special award, vigilant tv viewers were able to spot Miss Philippines’ photo displayed on stage. And without missing a beat, Harvey proclaimed Miss Philippines’ Gazini Ganados as the winner. A photo of her in her stunning silver ensemble inspired by the Philippine Eagle even flashed on screen. But audiences were surprised to see the camera zoom out to show another contestant in a completely different costume.
“This right here,” Harvey presented the contestant standing beside him. He then proceeded to compliment the intricate and colorful costume. However, the contestant was evidently not happy about the whole mix-up. After Harvey handed her the microphone, Shweta Sekhon firmly said: “It’s not Philippines, it’s Malaysia.”
Obviously flustered, Harvey replied “Let me explain something to you. I just read that in the teleprompter. Ya’ll gotta quit doing this to me.” He then pointed out that crew members are trying to fix the mishap.
Back in 2015, the most memorable Miss Universe pageant aired after Harvey announced the wrong winner. Harvey declared Miss Colombia as the winner and after being crowned and tearing up on stage, the host returned to reveal it was actually Miss Philippines who won.
Update: Miss Universe has confirmed on Twitter that Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados, was indeed, the winner of the national costume award. See the Tweet below:
“.@IAmSteveHarvey had it right: Miss Universe Philippines Gazini Ganados is the winner of the #MissUniverse2019 National Costume competition! Congratulations, Gazini. 🎉”
