LAS VEGAS: Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo would be the only contestant to wear the crown of Miss Universe and return it within minutes, thanks to a goof-up by host Steve Harvey.
Harvey announced Arevalo as the winner of Miss Universe 2015 and minutes later returned to apologise for not reading the card correctly that named contestant Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, Miss Phillipines, as this year’s winner and Colombia the first runner-up. By then Arevalo was already wearing the crown. Harvey said it was his mistake and that he would take responsibility for the goof-up.
A mystified Wurtzbach appeared stunned as she walked to the front of the stage alongside the crown-wearing Arevalo before last year’s Miss Universe from Colombia removed the crown and placed it on Wurtzbach’s head instead.
The competition started with women representing 80 countries between the ages of 19 and 27. For the first time, viewers at home weighed in, with their votes being tallied in addition to four in-person celebrity judges.