Although Steve has proven himself as a beauty pageant host over the past three years, it’s hard to forget his colossal blunder in front of millions in 2015. That’s when Steve announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, as the winner of the pageant. Upon realizing that Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, was the real winner, he had to walk back on stage and revoke his declaration.
“I have to apologize,” Steve began before taking a long and awkward pause. “The first runner up is Colombia … Miss Philippines, take your first walk as Miss Universe.”
The blunder immediately took the world by surprise, prompting a flurry of reactions. Some were sympathetic toward Ariadna, while others were downright angry. In fact, The Miami Herald reported at the time that a Colombian law firm threatened to file a lawsuit, claiming that “the crown is an acquired right that cannot be taken away from us.”
But outrage aside, how did the colossal mistake even happen?
As The Washington Post pointed out, some, including Miss Universe judge Perez Hilton, thought the flub was nothing more than a giant publicity stunt. The company behind the pageant, WME/IMG, quickly squashed that claim, with the organization’s Chief Content Officer Mark Shapiro telling CBS Sports, “That’s just humorous. All I can do is just laugh that off.”
Beyond that theory, multiple outlets reported at the time that the Miss Universe Snapchat story showed Steve saying that the teleprompter had said “Miss Universe Colombia” on it.
But when talking with the press after the show, Steve insisted that it was really his “mistake.” In a now-deleted tweet, where he misspelled both “Colombia” and “Philippines,” Steve issued a second apology, again admitting that he had made the error. “This was a terribly honest human mistake and I am so regretful.”
What’s more, 2015 contestant Miss Australia Monika Radulovic told Good Morning America that “All the girls saw the teleprompter, ‘Philippines, you may now take your first walk as Miss Universe.'”
Despite Steve’s endless apologies, Miss Colombia was clearly upset. Speaking on Univision, the New York Daily News reports that she said: “In four minutes they destroy your dreams, they throw it in a bag, and they throw it in the trash.”
Continuing, Ariadna explained, “They [the show] 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.” Following the incident, Ariadna went on to appear in Celebrity Big Brother, The World’s Best.
Like Ariadna, who went on to thrive after the incident, Steve has seemingly moved forward, as well. Although, his mess up did become the punchline of a joke last year when 2018 contender Miss Costa Rica Natalia Carvajal referenced the incident after Steve asked her for hosting tips.
“I think you’re doing good. The outfit is fine, the smile is always great. But I have to give you one advice. Just for the future. Just in case,” she said before asking him to come closer. “If they ever give you a really, really, really important envelope, try to read carefully, okay?”
Despite the hilarious shade, Steve didn’t miss a beat.
“Y’all just won’t let it go, huh?” he joked. “When you make a mistake, get up and keep going. I’m still here, baby!”
