President Duterte had negative reaction upon knowing that Steve Harvey will be the host of Ms. Universe
Steve Harvey, the person who was put at the center of the controversy when he announced the wrong country as the winner of Miss Universe last year.
He wrongly named Colombia’s candidate Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner of Miss Universe 2015 last December. The Philippines’ candidate Pia Wurtzbach won the crown while Gutierrez was the 1st runner-up.
On January 2017, he is back in hosting the pageant to be held in the Philippines.
On Thursday, Department of Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo said President Rodrigo Duterte responded negatively when he was informed that Harvey will be the host of the pageant.
The Tourism Secretary said Duterte does not want Harvey to continue as the master of the ceremony of the prestigious pageant the Philippines will host in January.
“Actually, he (Harvey) is under contract for five years, I believe. So definitely, he’s again going to host the Miss Universe,” Teo said in a news conference held in Malacañang.
“When I told the president about that, he reacted negatively. He said ‘That cannot be.’ That was what he said. And he said ‘I’m going to talk to the Miss Universe (organizers) that he should not be (the emcee). So that’s my problem,” Teo added.
The secretary was asked if Duterte was serious about his statement, but she replied: “I don’t know if he was serious. But when he told me, he was not laughing.”
Teo said he would suggest to pageant organizers to choose a Filipina co-host to appease Duterte, instead of choosing Harvey.
“I’ll suggest that we will have somebody from here, probably a media woman to host,” the tourism chief said.
“I’m sure that after the Miss Universe, the Philippines will be in the world map. Everybody will be looking at us because during the Miss Universe contest, all the beautiful places, the destinations, will be featured,” Teo said.
In January 2017, ancillary events would be held in areas outside Metro Manila to prevent traffic jam.
The grand coronation night would be held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on January 30.
The candidates from the participating countries are expected to arrive starting January 13.