There are many changes being made to the upcoming Miss Universe competition, and the future is female. Several years after veteran comedian Steve Harvey took over hosting duties for the annual international beauty pageant, the show will move in a different direction, with viewers seeing a new presenter, likely a woman.
Miss Universe Organization CEO Amy Emmerich recently explained the reasoning behind the change, telling Variety, “My goal was really to make sure we led with a female lens this next go-around. We should hopefully have that to talk about soon…It was a rare opportunity to be able to kind of restart in a whole new place.”
Along with Steve’s departure, the pageant will also be leaving the FOX platform, where the actor hosted for five years as part of the FOX deal, except for 2021, when the pageant was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 71st-annual show will now be moving to streaming after The Roku Channel secured a one-year deal to be the official English-language home for the competition, which will stream live from New Orleans on Jan. 14, 2023, at 7 p.m. EST.
The longtime host has yet to address his exit. However, viewers appear to miss him already, including one Twitter user who wrote, “Please don’t remove Steve Harvey as the host. Miss Universe wouldn’t be the same if he will not be the host again.”
Steve made headlines during the 2015 Miss Universe pageant after he mistakenly announced Miss Columbia as the winner before seconds later correcting himself. The 65-year-old took accountability for his gross error before proclaiming Miss Philippine Pia Wurztback as the true winner.
The mistake, which triggered a reported four billion Google searches with his name, ultimately worked out in his favor. During an appearance at Invest Fest in November 2022, the entertainment mogul revealed that not only did companies reach out to him for commercial deals, but the organization asked him to return to host for more than triple the amount offered the year before.
“I can say it now because the stocks have vetted,” Steve said. “After the mishap, I said I didn’t want to do it no more because I was put out on front street, and they left me out there to dry. Didn’t nobody volunteer, say it was my fault. Teleprompter didn’t step forward. The director damn sho didn’t come forward. So I said I ain’t doing it.”
He continued, So they said, ‘Well, suppose we pay you double.’ I said, ‘I still ain’t doing it.’ They said, ‘Suppose we pay you triple.’ I said, ‘I still ain’t gonna do it.’ They said, ‘Mr. Harvey, we’ll pay you millions to come back and do that.’ I said, ‘I’m still not gonna do it.’ They said, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘Ownership.’ ”
