Steve Harvey announces the wrong winner during Miss Universe 2019 costume contest
Almost two hours into the show, Harvey announced Miss Philippines the winner of the national costume contest. But the actual winner was Miss Malaysia, who was standing right next to him. Shweta Sekhon, who is Miss Malaysia, took the microphone from Harvey and said, “It’s not Philippines, it’s Malaysia.”
An embarrassed Harvey took back the mic, saying, “Well, let me explain something to you, I just read that in a teleprompter.”
Harvey also seemed to call production, saying, “You all gotta quit doing this to me.” He then muttered, “This is what they did to me back in 2015. Played me short like this.”
Unlike 2015, production does deserve some of the blame for this mistake. When Harvey was announcing the winner, Miss Philippines was shown on the screen and stage. However, the woman standing next to him was clearly a different person in vastly different costume.
Despite the minor gaffe, the rest of the show went pretty much as planned. Miss Mexico, Miss Puerto Rico, and Miss South Africa were the finalist this year. Zozibini Tunzi, who is Miss South Africa, took the crown for Miss Universe 2019. Madison Anderson, who is Miss Puerto Rico, was the first runner-up.