Something’s a-Miss! Miss Germany Sarah-Lorraine Riek claimed on Sunday, December 20, that none of her fellow global beauty queens voted for the 2015 Miss Universe winner, Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.
In a backstage video interview with Colombian journalist Natalia Cruz, Miss Germany, 23, said that she believed the crown belonged to another rightful victor — and it was neither Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez nor Wurtzbach.
“I really couldn’t believe it, I was so upset. For me, Miss France was the real winner,” Riek said in a clip posted to the Facebook page of Missosology, the world’s largest pageant forum.
Indeed, Miss France Flora Coquerel gave a heartfelt response to a topic that hit close to her home country during the interview portion of the pageant on Sunday. Host Steve Harvey asked Coquerel about experiencing terrorism and combatting the threat.
“In my opinion, to fight terrorism, first we have to know where the problems are coming from,” Miss France, 21, replied. “We have to listen to the people who are committing these attacks, and we have to find the problem at its heart. For us French, we have to learn to be happy to live and to be among ourselves.”
Though Coquerel lost, Riek said on Sunday that she was on board with Colombia’s brief win. Then Harvey admitted that he had made a huge mistake, and had accidentally announced the runner-up as Miss Universe.
“I was very happy for Miss Colombia, because she really deserved it,” Riek shared in Missosology’s clip. “I’m really not happy with the result, and so are the other girls, I’m sorry to say it. Because [none] of us voted for Philippines. I’m so sorry to say it.”
However, the end result isn’t determined by the contestants. The four judges each accounted for 20 percent of the total 100 percent of the vote — and the remaining 20 percent was determined by viewers who voted in real time.
Even Wurtzbach, 26, had doubts about her win, she admitted in an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Sunday night. “I had to ask my [manager] many times, like, ‘Did I really win? Am I really Miss Universe? Are you going to take the crown from me now?'” she recalled to ET. “And they [said], ‘No, no, you’re really the winner.'”
