Awkward! The moment Steve Harvey apologized to Miss Philippines backstage – as it’s revealed he was ‘drinking and playing high-end roulette hours before the pageant’

Steve Harvey

Steve Harvey shared a photo of himself backstage at Sunday’s Miss Universe pageant as he apologized to the evening’s winner Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach after initially declaring her the runner-up in the competition.

‘I had the chance to apologize to Miss Philippines and I’m thankful,’ wrote Harvey next to the photo, which showed him holding Miss Philippines’ hands and speaking with her as she wore her new crown.


He also wrote that he had apologized to Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez, who he announced as the winner on live television before admitting his mistake and having to watch as her crown was removed and given to Miss Philippines.

It was a tense moment for Harvey, who had been spotted gambling and having some drinks at a Las Vegas casino just hours before the pageant finals on Sunday.

TMZ obtained photos they claim are of Harvey at a ‘high-end roulette table’ at Caesars, claiming he was there both Friday and Sunday.

Sources said that Harvey ‘had a few drinks and didn’t win or lose big.’

Meanwhile, Harvey’s embarrassing failure to name the correct winner at the pageant was just a little too perfect for some viewers, who are now crying foul and claiming the whole thing was a well-orchestrated publicity stunt.

On her part, Miss Colombia Gutierrez seemed to be gracious in her defeat, saying with admirable equanimity during a brief backstage interview that ‘everything happens for a reason.’

Dabbing her eyes with a napkin, the first Miss Universe runner-up said in broken English she was happy with all she had accomplished and thanked her supporters for voting for her.

Gutierrez then took to Instagram Monday morning, sharing photos of herself wearing the glittering Miss Universe crown and getting a hug from last year’s winner, who was also from Colombia.

‘This moments [sic] will always be with me,’ she wrote, adding the hashtags ‘#missuniverse’ and ‘#misscolombia’, and writing in Spanish that Colombia triumphed back to back.

On Monday morning, the official Facebook page of Ariadna Gutierrez’s fan club shared a video that purports to show the moment a woman in the audience came up to the stage and handed Harvey a card allegedly containing Miss Philippines’ name. Daily Mail Online cannot confirm the authenticity of the clip and its provenance is unknown at this time.

Gutierrez’s sister Alexandra, speaking to the Primeira Hora radio program in Brazil, described the heart-wrenching moment she learned Ariadna was not the winner.

‘At that moment we didn’t realize what was going on because we were screaming and jumping with emotion. When we them saw Miss Philippines next to the girl from the United States we realized what had happened and became profoundly silent,’ she recalled.

Of Steve Harvey who made the mistake she said: ‘who is without sin cast the first stone. We all make mistakes. The only difference in this case is that the error was made in public and seen by millions of people.’

The real winner of the night, Miss Philippines Wurtzbach, still appeared shaken and flustered when talking backstage about the ‘very non-traditional crowning moment.’

Standing next to second runner-up Miss USA, Wurtzbach attempted to make a joke, saying the outcome of the contest was ‘very 2015.’

But armchair detectives around the world were not buying the act, claiming in a torrent of tweets that Steve Harvey’s snafu was actually a well-orchestrated publicity stunt.

Conspiracy theorists pointed to Miss Universe’s coverage on Snapchat, where Harvey was allegedly caught on video saying that the teleprompter read ‘Miss Universe – Columbia.’

However, the daytime talk show host admitted his mistake on stage at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Sunday, telling the audience that he misread the name written on a cue card, which he then displayed for the cameras to prove that Miss Wurtzbach was indeed the winner.

Twitter users pointed a finger of blame at the Miss Universe organization and Ms Harvey – and some even added into the mix Donald Trump, who until recently was the co-owner of the pageant.

A commenter named Aliah wrote: ‘I’m convinced that the Miss Universe mistake is just a publicity stunt, then needed more attention after leaving Trump out.’

Others suggested that Harvey’s gaffe would help put the long-running beauty pageant back on the map, and also boost the Family Feud host’s own career.

‘Steve Harvey has gotten more publicity than any of the contestants, the pageant itself, all his critics, and he got paid. He’s still winning,’ tweeted a user named Imara.

Source: Daily Mail