It seems the pageant heat is still on, only this time, it’s on Twitter’s stage.
Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach had to issue an apology on Tuesday to clarify a previous tweet regarding the recently concluded Miss Universe 2020 after it appeared to have vexed some Vietnamese pageant fans.
The backlash was caused by a tweet by Wurtzbach on Monday asking if there are more beauty pageant fans in Vietnam than in the Philippines. Her sentiment stems from the fact that Miss Universe Vietnam Nguyen Tran Khanh Van managed to clinch the last semifinals spot during Monday’s event after amassing an overwhelming number of fan votes — the highest, in fact, in the pageant’s history.
“Mas maraming pageant fans sa Vietnam kesa sa Pilipinas?” Wurtzbach wrote, followed by three “mind blown” emojis.
Vietnamese pageant fans were at obvious odds with the tweet, rebuking the beauty queen’s post in the replies section.
“How would you feel if you got the highest votes but people doubted you? We are not as big as you but we give our representatives more than our verbal supporters. If you doubt the results of the vote, the crown you have is also questionable! Your attitude never changes,” one Vietnamese user tweeted in their language.
“Stop asking like that, Pia. Vietnam has less pageant fans than Philippines but we have the solidarity, we call for help everywhere and finally we won the voting. Olivia announced we have the most votes ever in Miss Universe history so our votes were much higher than yours,” another replied.
Some also went so far as to say that Wurtzbach’s Miss Universe 2015 victory was a fluke and reignited the heat between her and Miss Colombia.
The flood of disapproving comments urged Wurtzbach to follow her controversial tweet up with clarifications.
“Woah! Woke up to so many angry fans from Vietnam! I think some of you misunderstood my tweet last night! I didn’t mean any harm by it at all!” Wurtzbach started. “For years I was told (and I believed) that the Philippines had the most pageant fans in the world. But yesterday Vietnam got the highest votes in history! Which meant I was wrong. Which surprised me! Thats it!! Thats all I meant by my tweet!”
“I wasn’t being sarcastic or questioning your win at all! Hope this clears it up. Congratulations Vietnam for the highest votes in Miss Universe history!”
Vietnam’s candidate joined Philippines’ Rabiya Mateo in the top 21, though both failed to secure a spot in the top 10 following the pageant’s swimsuit competition. Andrea Meza of Mexico ultimately won the Miss Universe 2020 title.
