The new Miss Universe explains the chaos and confusion on stage when the wrong winner was announced
"I was confused. I wasn't sure what was going on. I didn't expect that to happen at all," Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, the actual Miss Universe winner, told "Entertainment Tonight" after the program.
A few minutes after announcing Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner of the pageant, Harvey walked back on stage. He interrupted Miss Colombia, who was in the middle of her winners' walk, newly crowned and wearing the Miss Universe sash, with flowers in hand.
"I was hesitating, as well, to go up front, because that could have been a mistake as well," Wurtzbach said. "I wasn't sure. I was looking at the people off-stage, like the staff, and looking for signals or cues... But even they were confused."
Harvey said he read the wrong name off the ballot he was given. It said the second runner-up was Miss USA, the first runner-up was Miss Colombia, and the winner was Miss Philippines, although the countries were all written in small print.
Confirmation for Wurtzbach didn't arrive until she was able to speak to her newly appointed Miss Universe manager.
"I had to ask my new manager, Esther, many times like, 'Did I really win? Am I really Miss Universe? Are you going to take the crown from me now?' And they [said], 'No, no, you're really the winner,'" Wurtzbach recalled.
As for Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez, Wurtzbach wasn't able to speak with her in the moment: "I decided that maybe it was bad timing to do it now - to apologize to her for what happened. So maybe I'll do that in the future."