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The host of the Miss Universe has apologised after mistakenly naming the wrong woman as winner, leaving Miss Colombia empty-handed.
After the error, Ariadna Gutierrez was instead declared runner-up and surrendered her crown to Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.
#MissUniverse2015 became Twitter’s biggest trend of the night as social media users expressed their disbelief.
Ms Wurtzbach has since told reporters that she wishes Ms Gutierrez well.
“I’m very sorry, I did not take the crown away from her and I wish her well in whatever she wants to pursue after this pageant,” she said.
Ms Gutierrez also addressed fans in a backstage video that has been shared on the pageant’s official page.
She said: “Everything happens for a reason so I’m happy for all that I did.”
At the end of the night in Las Vegas, Ms Gutierrez was named first runner-up followed by Olivia Jordan from the United States.
The host Steve Harvey responded, saying it was “his mistake” and he would take responsibility for not reading the winning card correctly.
He made another mistake when he misspelled both Colombia and the Philippines in an initial tweet. The tweet was later deleted.
“I’d like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible,” he tweeted in a second attempt. The message was re-tweeted more than 70,000 times.
“I don’t want to take away from this amazing night and pageant. As well as the wonderful contestants – they were all amazing.” BBC
