Miss Universe fail and other epic award show stuff-ups
THE world was shocked when the wrong woman was named Miss Universe. But it wasn’t the first time a wrong winner has been named for a competition.
THE world was lost for words when Steve Harvey accidentally named Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner of Miss Universe instead of the rightful champion Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach.
But accidents happen and history has a way of repeating itself.
Here is a list of some of the most awkward moments the wrong winner or loser was called out.
AUSTRALIA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
Australia’s Next Top Model host Sarah Murdoch infamously read out the name of the wrong winner of the reality show’s $25,000 prize in 2010.
During the live finale at Sydney’s Luna Park in front of 2000 people, Murdoch said the winner was Sydney’s Kelsey Martinovich.
But after Martinovich, 19, had soaked up the applause and made her acceptance speech, Murdoch’s face fell as she listened to the producer’s voice in her ear piece.
“Oh my God, I don’t know what to say right now,” she said.
As Martinovich and runner-up Amanda Ware looked on, Murdoch said, “I’m feeling a bit sick about this. No. I’m so sorry about this. Oh my God. I don’t know what to say. This was a complete accident.
“It’s Amanda, I’m so sorry. It was fed to me wrong. Oh God. This is what happens when you have live TV, folks. This is insane. Insane, insane, insane.”
Ware, 18, was then awarded the top prize.
Martinovich was suddenly the loser. But she was gracious in her shock, saying “It’s OK” over and over and repeatedly congratulating Ware.
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA
THE 2004 season of Big Brother was thrown into confusion when the wrong housemate’s name was read out during a live eviction.
Queenslander Bree Amer was evicted from the Big Brother house after a miscount of viewer votes.
She was offered the opportunity to re-enter the house once the mistake was made public, and ended up as the runner-up of that year’s competition, which was ultimately won by Trevor Butler.
THE BROWNLOW MEDAL
In a stroke of genius, the official AFL store prematurely congratulated the wrong winner and even started selling a signed guernsey.
A ‘Sam Mitchell 2015 Brownlow medallist signed guernsey’ was advertised for sale at AUD$1,364 before being removed from the store.
Fremantle Dockers player Nat Fyfe took home the medal.
THE BACHELOR US
In one of the most awkward moments ever caught on The Bachelor, a Bachelorette by the name of Jillian made a beeline to collect a red rose from the man of her dreams.
But it turned out the Bachelor wasn’t calling her name — he was attempting to give the rose to Juelia.
As Jillian realised her mistake mid-stride, she slipped dramatically on the rug.
THE BET AWARDS
When Tiffany Green took to the stage to present the Viewer’s Choice Award at the BET Awards in 2011, she accidentally announced Chris Brown as the winner.
Moments later Green realised she had made a mistake and announced Rihanna was the winner.
But then a BET representative said the actual winner was Drake, who called the situation “awkward” when accepting his award.
Green blamed the BET Awards organisers for the mix up.
BET executive Stephen G Hill took the blame for the mistake, calling it a human error.
“And I was the human that made that error,” he said.
ACADEMY AWARDS
NOT long after Marisa Tomei picked up the best supporting actor Oscar in 1992, rumours started spreading that the award presenter Jack Palance read out her name by mistake.
The rumours gained traction because Tomei was not expected to win (Vanessa Redgrave was the favourite), and the film she had been nominated for — the low-rent comedy My Counsin Vinny — was not considered typical Oscars material.
It was also rumoured that Palance had been intoxicated and/or misread the autocue when announcing Tomei as the winner. But these theories were disproved by the urban-myth-busting site Snopes, which pointed out that footage of the moment shows that Palance clearly read the winner’s name from the card rather than the autocue.
Tomei has also done her bit to disprove the theory by notching up scores of other awards, including Oscar nominations in the best supporting actor category in 2002 (for In the Bedroom) and 2009 (for The Wrestler).