Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez admits she cried many tears following Steve Harvey’s gaffe at the Miss Universe Pageant on December 20. Miss Colombia was inadvertently crowned the pageant winner in an honest mistake. Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, was the real winner of the Miss Universe Pageant, meaning Miss Colombia was crowned, then had that crown taken away.
”In four minutes they destroy your dreams” – Miss Colombia on the Miss Universe mixup https://t.co/Fc110pWWtf pic.twitter.com/oKkZNGvMnL
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) January 5, 2016
It was during a recent interview with Univision that Miss Colombia talked about how devastated she was after the mistake was revealed.
“I went up to my parents’ room and, obviously, I was very sad, I was in bad shape, I was crying. I cried a ton that night,” she said.
Miss Colombia on Miss Universe mix-up: "It was very humiliating" https://t.co/TjMFftW2wr pic.twitter.com/XYaiJ6vc7o
— CNN (@CNN) January 2, 2016
Steve Harvey read the card incorrectly, as Miss Colombia was the first runner-up instead of the pageant winner.
“In four minutes they destroy your dreams, they throw it in a bag, and they throw it in the trash,” Miss Colombia said.
“They could have done it another way. I feel like it doesn’t matter to them the feelings of a girl who has worked her whole life for a dream,” she added.
Steve Harvey addressed his mistake during his radio show on December 21. He denied rumors he announced Miss Colombia as the winner as part of a publicity stunt.
“Why the hell would I do that?” he said, noting that he was “already famous. Do you really think I wanted to be famous like this?”
Harvey says the moments before and after the mistake were chaotic.
“Now I got a guy in my ear going, ‘We gotta do something! We gotta do something!’ That’s all I’m hearing, all the confusion everybody backstage. So I took it upon myself and I walked out there to do something,” he said.
Steve Harvey says even though what was written on the card he read from and the teleprompter were different, he still takes full responsibility for the embarrassing, hurtful gaffe.
“Did I make a mistake? Yes, I did. Wholeheartedly,” he said. “At this point of the game I’m not in the finger pointing business and rolling other people under the bus.”
Harvey has expressed an interest in speaking to Miss Colombia, to apologize for his mistake, but she reportedly won’t talk with him.
Steve Harvey wants to talk to Miss Colombia but she won't return his calls: https://t.co/PgrZ6fuWL8 pic.twitter.com/NmwP5lVo0Z
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) January 5, 2016
Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach didn’t find some people’s suggestion to share the crown with Miss Colombia a possibility.
Miss Universe says she won't share her crown with Miss Colombia https://t.co/woDIrRa9WM
— TIME.com (@TIME) January 5, 2016
“I think it would be a little bit difficult for two girls to share a crown, but I have high hopes that this will give great opportunities for me and Miss Colombia and the rest of the contestants,” she told Lara Spencer during an interview on Good Morning America.
While it’s no surprise Miss Colombia shed many tears following the pageant mishap, many still believe the end result should have been different, with both women sharing the crown.
How do you think Steve Harvey’s pageant announcement mistake should have been handled? Do you think it was handled the best way possible?