Miss Universe 2015 Winner and Runners-Up Update: Miss Philippines Wins, Steve Harvey Apologizes

Dec 20, 2015 10:53 PM EST

Miss Universe 2015 Favorite Miss Philippines won the pageant, but not without some drama first. Host Steve Harvey may have committed the biggest blunder in Miss Universe history by naming the Miss Colombia the winner and then had to strip her of the crown to give to Miss Philippines instead. 

Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez was Miss Universe 2015 for a few minutes up until host Harvey realized he misread his cue cards. Harvey hastily explained that the Miss Universe 2015 crown actually belongs Pia Alonzo-Wurtzbach, who has been originally slated as the first runner-up. Stunned, Alonzo-Wurtzbach was escorted to the stage. The tiara that Gutierrez was then wearing had to be removed from her head and then transferred to Miss Philippines just before the program ended. 

Harvey had profusely apologized before leaving the stage. He said not to make things uncomfortable for any of the two girls affected by the blunder and that he takes full responsibility for the mixup. He also took to his Twitter to apologize. "I want to apologize emphatically to Miss Philippians and Miss Columbia. This was a terribly honest human mistake and I am so regretful," he wrote. 

Miss USA won second runner-up. Miss Colombia, Miss Philippines, and Miss USA bested 77 other women since the start of the competition. The three were obviously crowd favorites of the competition. They all did well in the costumes, swimsuits, and even gowns segments. They gave satisfactory answers to questions of gun control, terrorism, and marijuana legalization. 

For Miss Philippines, she was asked what she thinks of the US reopening a military base in her nation. According to the now Miss Universe 2015, she has no problems with it because the United States and the Philippines have strong ties with each other for such a long time already.  Miss Colombia was asked about the difficult issue of drug use and abuse and how to deal with it. She answered education at home is the key. On the other hand, Miss USA was asked another timely and significant social issue: gun ownership. She answered all people have the inherent right to protect themselves, but stronger regulations and awareness should be present.

The 2015 Miss Universe Pageant was held at the Axis at Planet Hollywood. It began at 4 p.m. PT. It was telecasted live on Fox on the East Coast. It is tape delayed in the Pacific Time zone, including here in Las Vegas, which started airing at 7 p.m. PT.