This is the first time the comedian has come face to face with Ariadna Gutierrez since his on-air flub.
“I hope she’s forgiving,” Steve Harvey told the audience just moments before Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez joined him on stage.
Harvey hadn’t seen Gutierrez since the 2015 Miss Universe pageant -- the night he made the mortifying mistake of identifying her as the pageant winner. Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach had actually won the crown.
“I want to make sure she’s OK,” the comedian said during the Tuesday episode of his show. “I really need to see her. I really, really do. I need her to hear it from me.”
Fortunately for Harvey, Gutierrez isn't holding a grudge.
With tears in his eyes, Harvey told the beauty queen, “I just want to say how sorry I am. I’m beyond sorry for what happened that night.”
Gutierrez, also visibly emotional, admitted that the whole ordeal had been “like a nightmare.” But, she told the host, “I’ve already moved on.”
“I already forgave you the same night."
The interview then took a turn for the more cheerful as Gutierrez began teasing Harvey.
“You have to learn how to read cards because it was on the card,” she said. “You wanted me to win, you know?”
Gutierrez also assuaged Harvey's fears of a potential lawsuit.
“No, I never thought of suing you. That’s not me, that’s not who I am,” she said, adding with a laugh: “But a lot of lawyers wanted me to do that!”
Source: The Huffington Post, January 19, 2016