Wrong winner mistakenly crowned at Miss Universe pageant

The beauty pageant ended Sunday night with the contestant from Colombia having the crown removed from her head and placed on the contestant from the Philippines after host Steve Harvey mistakenly read that she had won when really she was the first runner-up.

Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez, right, reacts next to Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, when she was originally announced as the winner during the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas. Steve Marcus / Reuters

LAS VEGAS // Miss Universe host Steve Harvey says no one feels worse than he does about his mistake awarding Colombia the crown before Miss Universe.

Harvey spoke to reporters assembled at the Planet Hollywood hotel-casino where the pageant concluded with him awarding the crown to the wrong person.

Mark Shapiro of the pageant’s new owner, WME/IMG, says Harvey corrected the mistake on his own when he realised the error on air.

Both say it was human error.

The beauty pageant ended Sunday night with the contestant from Colombia having the crown removed from her head and placed on the contestant from the Philippines after Harvey mistakenly read that she had won when really she was the first runner-up.

Harvey says he hasn’t spoken with Miss Colombia.

Colombia contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was already wearing the crown as this year’s Miss Universe winner when host Steve Harvey returned to apologize.

Harvey says it was his mistake and that he would take responsibility for not reading the card correctly that named contestant Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach this year’s winner and Colombia the first runner-up.

A mystified Ms Wurtzbach appeared stunned as she walked to the front of the stage alongside the crown-wearing Ms Arevalo before last year’s Miss Universe from Colombia removed the crown and placed it on Ms Wurtzbach’s head instead.

It was the United States, Colombia and Philippines left vying for the Miss Universe crown of diamonds and blue topaz.

* Associated Press