It would be almost impossible to find someone who did not hear about the Miss Universe debacle. On December 20, 2015, the Miss Universe pageant took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, and many people were tuning in. At the end of the night, the finalists ended up being Miss USA, Miss Columbia, and Miss Philippines, all beautiful and talented women. However, the night turned into a real drama when the host, Steve Harvey, announced Miss Columbia as the winner of the Miss Universe pageant. As Miss Columbia, Ariadna Gutierrez, finished her walk down the runway as the champion of the night, Harvey intruded and made an unsuspected apology. Harvey cautiously announced that the real winner of Miss Universe was not Miss Columbia, but was in fact, Miss Philippines. After a series of shocked faces and expressions, nothing could beat Gutierrez’s face when she realized that she hadn’t won the competition. The pure look of disappointment of horror will probably go down in Miss Universe history. The crown was taken off of her head, and placed on the head of Miss Philippines.
Other Prep students who either tuned into the pageant or heard about it afterward, were in complete shock. Junior, Maddie Swanborn ’17, shared her viewpoints on the mishap: “I heard about the story from Twitter, and I couldn’t believe it. I felt bad for Steve Harvey, but it is a good reminder that everyone makes mistakes!”
Despite the controversy, everyone was more than excited for Miss Philippines, also known as Pia Wurtzbach, since a contestant from the Philippines hadn’t won for the past fifty-three years. Wurtzbach was hesitant to take the crown from Gutierrez, but couldn’t hide her excitement that she had won the competition. Many analysts after the show believed that the reason Wurtzbach had won was because of the new online voting from fans. Filipinos are known for their aggressive voting for anything that has to do with the Philippines, which is why it is no surprise that Wurtzbach had won.
After the Miss Universe televised competition had ended, Steve Harvey prepared for the heat that he would receive from the fans and the rest of the world– universe, rather. Immediately after the show ended, Harvey tweeted an apology to both Guterrez and Wurtzbach by saying, “I want to apologize empathetically to Miss Philippines and Miss Columbia. This was a terribly honest human mistake and I am so regretful.” Harvey may have apologized, but the mistake he made will never be forgotten.