Steve Harvey arrives at The 64th Annual Miss Universe Pageant held at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV on Sunday, December 20, 2015. (Photo By Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA)

By PETERSON GONZAGA

Front Row Features

LAS VEGAS—It was a night of controversy as the culmination of the head-to-head battle of Miss Philippines and Miss Colombia came to an end on the stage of the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant, with host Steve Harvey announcing the winner of the crown as Ariadna Gutierrez-Arevalo from Colombia. After receiving the crown and taking her walk, Miss Colombia’s reign was short-lived when the emcee realized his mistake and interrupted Miss Colombia’s win and corrected his announcement that he made an honest human mistake in announcing the winner.

He corrected himself stating that the actual winner of the 2015 Miss Universe crown was Philippines’ Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, while Miss Colombia was the first runner up.

During his post-show interview, Harvey reiterated that it was an honest human mistake and he took full blame for the error. He added that the general public should not blame anyone, especially Miss Philippines.

Miss Universe 2015 Winner Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines backstage at The 64th Annual Miss Universe Pageant held at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV on Sunday, December 20, 2015. (Photo By Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA)

Wurtzbach herself was confused in the announcement. After accepting her crown she said she hopes no one thinks that she stole the crown from Miss Colombia. “We’re trying to fix the problem now. I’m trying to explain to everyone that it wasn’t. I hope I did not upset anybody, like the Latino community, especially the fans of Miss Colombia. I’m the voice of Miss Universe now so I’d like to send my apologies for any confusions that happened and I hope it doesn’t affect your relationship with Miss Universe and of course the relationship with the Filipino community as well,” says Wurtzbach.