Miss Universe 2015: Philippine Senator Pia Cayetano Receives 'Hundreds' of Congratulatory Messages by Mistake
Steve Harvey's onstage booboo at this week's Miss Universe 2015 pageant exploded all over the Internet. The "Family Feud" host didn't escape from the World Wide Web unscathed; plenty of memes have been made in his name, criticisms are aplenty, and some even turned the crowning of the winner as a source of humor and relationship dramas.
If you think Harvey's mistake was the only blunder that took place at the beauty pageant, then think again. Philippine senator Pia Cayetano was also mistaken for Miss Universe 2015 winner Pia Wurtzbach.
In a tweet posted yesterday, Cayetano, 49, wrote: "Wish I could forward the hundreds of congratulatory messages being sent my way for #missuniverse2015 @PiaWurtzbach."
The politician also described the announcement of the beauty pageant's winner as "serious telenovela material."
Several international celebrities also had kind words over Wurtzbach's win, including supermodel Tyra Banks, movie actress Chloë Grace Moretz, singer Josh Groban, and Taiwanese star Barbie Hsu. Canadian singer Justin Bieber, on the other hand, shared an Instagram post featuring an edited snapshot of Harvey with the lyrics, "Is it too late now to say sorry," from his latest track titled "Sorry."
Harvey has already apologized for screwing up the names of Wurtzbach and Miss Colombia 2014 and Miss Universe 2015 1st Runner-Up Ariadna Gutiérrez during the much-awaited declaration of the winner.
"I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible," the TV host wrote on Twitter, adding, "Secondly, I'd like to apologize to the viewers at that I disappointed as well. Again it was an honest mistake."
Harvey concluded with, "I don't want to take away from this amazing night and pageant. As well as the wonderful contestants. They were all amazing."
In a video posted on Miss Universe's Facebook account, Gutiérrez tearfully revealed her thoughts on Sunday night's controversy.
"Everything happens for a reason, so I'm happy for all I did," the Colombian beauty said in the clip. "I'm so happy. Thank you for voting for me."
Some viewers, then again, have a different take on the pageant's controversy. Raoul Martinez, a TV anchor in San Diego, formed his own conspiracy theory and insisted that Harvey's mix-up was "a publicity stunt"; normally, not a lot of attention is given to the prestigious pageant, based on how it did in recent years, Sydney Morning Herald noted.
The news outlet wrote that last year's Miss Universe telecast only garnered about 7.6 million viewers, its highest rating in a decade. This occurrence likely pushed organizers to formulate measures to cement a talk-of-the-town status for the pageant. If it were true, then they definitely succeeded.