Steve Harvey has a knack for making news at the Miss Universe pageant. It took him a few years to earn fans' forgiveness after his 2015 gaffe when he announced the wrong winner. Harvey incorrectly declared that Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, had won that year's contest. But a few moments later he reappeared with a correction that the winner was actually Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach. Harvey apologized, and a few months later he offered a lengthy explanation. According to the host, there was a discrepancy between the card in his hand and the teleprompter.
Nevertheless, Harvey has returned to host the contest for five years in a row. This year's competition wasn't quite as controversial, but it did provide a few more viral moments, such as the moment Harvey failed to hide his emotions during the Q&A segment.
"Are leaders of today doing enough to protect future generations from climate change? If not, what more should they be doing?" he asked one of the contestants, Miss South Africa, Zozibini Tunzi, reading off his cue card.
Harvey barely got the question off his lips before his eyes rolled far into the back of his head.
Steve Harvey with an all-time eye roll after asking the climate change question #MissUniverse2019 pic.twitter.com/5bzwvoP8i9
— Paul Glenn (@pdglenn) December 9, 2019
Hard to miss that one!
Tunzi took the question a bit more seriously, however, telling Harvey that since the sixth grade she's "been learning that the climate is deteriorating and the planet is dying and up to us to keep our planet safe." She said that yes, leaders can and should do more.
This is the Top 5 Q&A with... South Africa!#MissUniverse2019 LIVE on @FOXtv. Airing in Spanish on @Telemundo. pic.twitter.com/FyZxRcCwhh
— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) December 9, 2019
Her answer must have impressed the judges because Tunzi went on to win the whole competition.
Throughout the contest, Harvey also made a few quips about Mexican cartels that were not received all that well by viewers.
And he nearly had another name mixup on Sunday. The host appeared to confuse the winner of the Best National Costume when he announced it was the Philippines, but Miss Malaysia walked onstage. The pageant later confirmed that Harvey got it right.
"Well, let me explain something, I just read that in the teleprompter,” Harvey said in defense. “Y’all gotta quit doing this to me. I can read! They are trying to fix it now, but this is what they did to me back in 2015.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member