Steve Harvey and the
Miss Universe teleprompter just don't get along.
In a strange mix up, host Harvey introduced the winner of the national costume contest, and after showing a photo of Miss Philippines
Gazini Ganados in costume and declaring her the winner, Harvey said, "This is it right here." He then introduced the contestant beside him, who was very clearly in a different outfit than the one that was just shown on screen.
"It's not Philippines, it's Malaysia," contestant Shweta Sekhon said firmly.
A flustered Harvey replied, "Let me explain something to you. I just read that in the teleprompter. Y'all got to quit doing this to me. I can read. … Now, they are trying to fix it now. See? This is what they did to me back in 2015 – played me short like that."
Clearly frustrated, Harvey muttered "that's crazy."
After tweeting during the broadcast, "Voted BEST National Costume... Malaysia!" the official Miss Universe account later wrote, "@IAmSteveHarvey had it right: Miss Universe Philippines Gazini Ganados is the winner of the #MissUniverse2019 National Costume competition! Congratulations, Gazini."
The Miss Universe Organization confirmed in a statement sent to USA TODAY that Harvey was correct and Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados is the winner of the 2019 National Costume competition.Earlier in the show, Harvey repeatedly joked about his 2015 mistake, when he named Miss Colombia as the winner instead of Miss Philippines. Coincidentally, this year's confusion also concerned the Philippines.
As the night kicked off Harvey, in an eye-popping teal blazer with gold appliques, quipped about his 2015 error.
"I'm hosting again. Fifth time. Can you believe it? I can't," he said. "Ya'll never really did let go of that Miss Colombia thing. … I survived it all. When you fall, get up. Colombia has gotten over that, too. They've forgiven me. Well, not all of them. The cartel is still trippin' a little bit."
He returned to the tried-and-true topic toward the end of his intro by quipping that all the women want to win the pageant but even if they don't, they should feel hopeful that he may say their name anyway by mistake.
Later in the show, when Harvey named Miss Colombia as a top 20 semi-finalist, Gabriela Tafur Náder had some fun at Harvey's expense too and asked him if he was sure he'd read the results correctly.