Beauty pageants are not all pettiness and catfights. When Miss Universe host Steve Harvey made an erroneous announcement that Miss Colombia was the winner of the 2015 pageant, the crown was placed on her head but only for a few minutes. It was then taken off her head and given to its rightful owner—Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, the real winner.
The audience felt sorry for Miss Colombia, who was stripped off the title she thought was already hers. Some people in the audience had expected her to lash out at the pageant for humiliating her in front of millions of people watching the show on TV worldwide. Some thought it would ignite a bitter rivalry between the two beauty queens.
But Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo proved that she is beyond negativity as she exhibited grace under the most extreme pressure.
On her personal Instagram account (@gutierrezary), the beauty queen shared a photo of herself forming the shape of the heart with her hands. She then writes, "After the storm comes the calm. I want to thank each and every one of you who have sent messages of support and strength. Every one of you has become an incredible human being in my book and I am the most fortunate and thankful for having the support not only from one country but from the whole entire world."
Gutierrez told people not to be upset over what happened because good things can still be gleaned from the situation. "Your destiny is written for you. And my destiny was this. I was able to bring happiness to my country after becoming Miss Universe for only a couple of minutes... Today because of that COLOMBIA and the LATIN COMMUNITY are being talked about in every corner of the world," she says.
"I also want to congratulate the Philippines for their new Miss Universe. The happiness that you must be feeling must be incredible. Life continues and in the future we will find out why things happen the way they happen. Thank you all for your LOVE SUPPORT and KINDNESS."
