After the Miss Universe 2021 final, the show’s familiar MC – Steve Harvey was criticized by the online community for asking Miss Universe – Harnaaz Sandhu to imitate animal sounds on stage.
The Miss Universe 2021 pageant ended on December 13 with the victory belonging to the Indian beauty – Harnaaz Sandhu. The program was praised by the media for its professional, concise and attractive organization.
However, the detail that MC Steve Harvey asked Miss Universe India – Harnaaz Sandhu to make animal noises when she was called into the top 16 of the competition, made many viewers disagree.
The male MC told the Indian beauty: “I heard you are quite good at imitating animals. Show everyone your best imitation.” At the MC’s request, Miss Harnaaz Sandhu seemed quite confused and replied: “I never thought I would do this on an international stage. But okay, I have no choice.”
The beauty then decided to imitate a cat’s meow and explained that this was her favorite animal. Immediately after the contest, netizens spoke out against MC Steve’s actions. One audience member commented: “I can’t believe I just witnessed Steve Harvey asking Miss India to meow on stage. He should have asked a more interesting question. If she wasn’t confident, this situation on stage would have been very awkward.”
Some other viewers suggested that the organizers should find another MC for next year’s show. This is not the first time MC Steve Harvey has become a controversial figure while hosting the Miss Universe show.
At the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, he caused a stir when he announced the wrong name of the winner, creating an awkward situation for the first runner-up and the Miss Universe of that year. Immediately after discovering the mistake, he had to return to the stage, admitting his mistake, causing Miss Colombia to return the crown to the Filipina, its real owner, in tears after wearing the crown for 3 minutes.
Steve Harvey apologized on stage and later on his personal page to the two beauties of the final night. The pageant organizers later took part of the blame, but over the years, Steve Harvey has been blamed for this mistake. However, the organizers still invited Steve to host the Miss Universe pageant in the following years after the noisy event in 2015.
At the Miss Universe 2021 final, Steve Harvey made a similar mistake when he misread the winner’s name. When announcing the Miss and First Runner-up titles, the veteran MC surprised fans again.
After announcing Miss Universe South Africa – Lalela Mswane as the second runner-up of the contest, he returned to the stage with the two beauties Paraguay and India and said: “Congratulations to Miss Portugal”. However, he soon discovered his mistake and quickly corrected it.
“They wrote Portugal on this, they must be trying to trick me again. But I won’t make the same mistake as before,” the male MC said before announcing that this year’s Miss contest is an Indian beauty.
Speaking to Insider after the Miss Universe 2021 pageant, Miss Universe India, who is also the new Miss Universe, said she was not bothered by MC Steve Harvey’s offer.
“Steve and I had a fun interaction, I also like to make people laugh. I was quite surprised at first but it was really an opportunity for the audience to see my true nature,” she said.
Beauty Harnaaz Sandhu was crowned convincingly and was highly praised by international media after winning the Miss Universe 2021 contest. The Indian beauty is the third Indian beauty to bring the crown to India.
Currently, the new Miss Harnaaz Sandhu is busy with promotional activities and media interactions. She will spend a year living and working in the US. In her homeland of India, Harnaaz Sandhu is praised and congratulated by the media and fans for bringing the Miss Universe crown to India after nearly 21 years of waiting.
The beauty shared with the media in her first interview on December 14: “I am really happy, honored and still can’t believe what happened. After 21 years, I brought the Miss Universe crown back to India. Thank you all, who supported me.”
