Miss Colombia was declared the winner of the beauty pageant – but then host Steve Harvey announced he'd made a mistake and the crown was handed over to Miss Philippines
Miss Philippines took the title of Miss Universe on Sunday night, but only after the host had mistakenly crowned Miss Colombia the winner and then had to painfully backtrack and remove the crown.
Contestants comfort Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez (centre) after she was incorrectly crowned Miss Universe (Photo: AP)
Ariadna Gutiérrez Arevalo, Miss Colombia, was already wearing the crownwhen host Steve Harvey realised his error.
The 21-year-old was forced to remove the crown and give it to Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, with some of the contestants visibly distressed. Others did not appear to realise what had happened.
A mystified Miss Wurtzbach appeared stunned as she walked to the front of the stage alongside the crown-wearing Miss Arevalo.
Steve Harvey holds up the card showing the winners after he incorrectly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez at the winner (Photo: AP)
To the gasps of the crowd, last year's Miss Universe, also from Colombia, removed the crown from her compatriot's head and placed it on Miss Wurtzbach's instead.
Steve Harvey, the host, said he was "so regretful" as he apologised to all concerned.
Harvey said it was his mistake and that he would take responsibility for not reading the card correctly that named Miss Wurtzbach this year's winner and Colombia the first runner-up.
Former Miss Universe Paulina Vega centre takes away the flowers and sash from Miss Colombia and gives them to Miss Philippines (Photo: AP)
He said afterwards it was simply human error. "Nobody feels worse about this than me," he added.
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