A familiar face did familiar tricks at Sunday’s 70th Miss Universe competition, when veteran host Steve Harvey made another mistake during the most tense moment of the night.
After announcing South Africa as the second runner-up, Harvey turned to the two remaining contestants, from the countries Paraguay and India, and began by saying, “Congratulations Portugal.” It was then that the host held back.
“They wrote Portugal on the damn poster, trying to play with me, they are trying to catch me again. But I’m not going to do it this year, ”Harvey said. “Congratulations Paraguay. They had Portugal on the damn poster. I looked at him dead. They all saw it. Don’t try to blame me for this this year. “
Harvey could have been referring to the Miss Universe 2015 competition, where he accidentally announced the first runner-up Miss Colombia as the winner, rather than the actual winner Miss Philippines.
Or it could be talking about the 2019 pageant, where the host set up a video package referencing Miss Philippines when she was actually Miss Malaysia. He attributed it to a teleprompter bug for that one, much like this year’s confusion.
But of course the show, which took place in Eilat, Israel, continued, and while things didn’t get any better for Miss Paraguay, Harvey was able to pin down the highlight of the night when he officially named Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu. as Miss Universe 2021.
Sandhu, 21, beat out 79 other contestants, including runner-up Miss Paraguay Nadia Ferreira and second runner-up Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane. And Sandhu, an actress who takes inspiration from Priyanka Chopra, spoke about how she is a staunch advocate for women’s empowerment.
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With India bringing home the crown for the first time in 21 years, it was a historic night. It became even more remarkable, as it marked the first time a delegate from the United Arab Emirates has competed, and the first time in more than four decades that Miss Universe Morocco has returned to the pageant.
70th Miss Universe broadcast on Sunday at 7:00 pm on Fox.
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