Steve Harvey's Miss Universe 2021 Mix-Up Gives Viewers Déjà Vu

Not again, Steve Harvey! In the final moments of last night's 70th Miss Universe pageant, host Steve Harvey mixed up Miss Paraguay Nadia Ferreira (the eventual runner-up) with Miss Portugal, who wasn't even in the Top 3.

The mood was tense as Harvey prepared to announce the final two contestants, and Harvey certainly didn't make it any better when he said, "Congratulations... Portugal!" After a long and uncomfortable pause, Harvey caught his mistake. "They wrote Portugal on the damn sign, trying to play me again," said the veteran TV personality. "They're trying to get me again. But I'm not going for it this year."

"Congratulations, Paraguay!" he continued. "They had Portugal on the damn sign. I looked dead at it. Y'all saw it. Don't try to blame this on me this year."

A bizarre kerfuffle from @IAmSteveHarvey “Congratulations Portugal”, followed by confused looks from Miss Paraguay, Miss India, and Miss South Africa. We still love you, Steve! #SteveHarvey #Portugal #MissUniverse #Paraguay #MissIndia #MissSA #misssouthafrica pic.twitter.com/iMOiLMdpmU

— Jennifer Su (Jen Su) (@jennifer_su) December 13, 2021

If Harvey hadn't realized the mistake, the 2021 Miss Universe pageant could have gone the way of 2015, when he accidentally announced first runner-up Miss Colombia as the winner instead of Miss Philippines. But last night, Harvey came through when it mattered: he successfully declared Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu the winner of Miss Universe 2021, with Miss Paraguay coming in as a close second.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.