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Miss Malaysia Shweta Sekhon on Monday took to social media to air her side on the controversial mix-up in announcing the winner of best in national costume in the Miss Universe 2019 pageant.

In the pageant held in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday, host Steve Harvey announced Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados as the winner of the special award, with a photo of the 23-year-old Cebuana in her Philippine Eagle-inspired ensemble during the preliminaries round of the pageant flashing on the screen. However, it was Shweta, clad in her Peranakan cusine-inspired national costume, who was on stage to receive the recognition.

READ: Miss Universe Organization says Miss Philippines is National Costume winner

On Instagram Monday night, Shweta revealed that she was given the impression that she won the special award as she was asked to wear her national costume and go on standby during the pageant.

View this post on Instagram

No words can ever describe how grateful am I to the Lord for this crazy journey of mine at @missuniverse I came across many new faces , made tons of friends , gained many sisters , got so many mothers and most importantly IT WAS CHRISTMAS SEASON YESTERDAY DURING BREAKFAST WHEN I RECEIVED GIFTS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD ! . . . Many has been asking me questions and clarification about the National Costume . Well 4 countries were briefed to be on standby as we were Top 4 for National Costume and Philippines was part of it too . We were told that a picture would be displayed if we made it to top 20 and if we don’t , we would have to put it on . The entire day the crew went on finding my costume as I was told to be the WINNER . That is why I got into the costume too . . . . I am totally fine with it because in my eyes , every girl that came to compete is a winner ! Philippines or Malaysia. , there isn’t any difference because we are O N E ! ❤️ Congratulations @zozitunzi for the title too ! Truly deserving indeed and I can’t wait to see your journey !!! 🙏🏻❤️ . . Congratulations to the very beautiful @gazinii too ! Love you so much babe 😘❤️ . . . And to my fellow Malaysians , I can’t wait to be back and get to work ! Trust me , this is just the beginning ! I can’t wait to make you all proud ! I AM UNSTOPPABLE 🇲🇾💪🏻❤️ . . . #MissUniverse #MissUniverseMalaysia #MissUniverseMalaysia2019 #RoadToMissUniverse #ShwetaSekhon #BeautyBeyondYou #YourBodyYourSay
A post shared by Shweta Sekhon 👑🇲🇾 (@shweta_sekhon_) on Dec 9, 2019 at 4:15am PST

“Many has been asking me questions and clarification about the National Costume. Well four countries were briefed to be on standby as we were Top 4 for National Costume and Philippines was part of it too . We were told that a picture would be displayed if we made it to Top 20 and if we don’t, we would have to put it on. The entire day the crew went on finding my costume as I was told to be the WINNER. That is why I got into the costume too,” she said.

In a press statement, the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) stressed that Steve did not make a mistake in announcing Ganidi as best in national costume.

“Mr. Harvey made a joke out of it, but no mistakes regarding the national costume winner were made by him, the prompter, or production,” it said.

“As part of the broadcast, we also featured Miss Universe Malaysia Shweta Sekhon’s national costume. Miss Sekhon wasn’t aware we’d be announcing Philippines first, so she jumped the gun when Mr. Harvey started with that news,” the pageant organizer added.

In her post Monday night, Shweta said that she's \"totally fine\" with the mix-up and even congratulated Gazini on her best in national costume award.

“I am totally fine with it because in my eyes, every girl that came to compete is a winner! Philippines or Malaysia, there isn’t any difference because we are O N E!” she said.

“Congratulations to the very beautiful [Gazini!] Love you so much babe,” she added.

She went on to express her support for the new reigning queen, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa.

“Congratulations [Zozibini Tunzi] for the title, too! Truly deserving indeed and I can’t wait to see your journey!” she said.

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Miss Malaysia Shweta Sekhon on Monday took to social media to air her side on the controversial mix-up in announcing the winner of best in national costume in the Miss Universe 2019 pageant.

READ: Miss Universe Organization says Miss Philippines is National Costume winner","body_html_bottom":"

On Instagram Monday night, Shweta revealed that she was given the impression that she won the special award as she was asked to wear her national costume and go on standby during the pageant.

View this post on Instagram

No words can ever describe how grateful am I to the Lord for this crazy journey of mine at @missuniverse I came across many new faces , made tons of friends , gained many sisters , got so many mothers and most importantly IT WAS CHRISTMAS SEASON YESTERDAY DURING BREAKFAST WHEN I RECEIVED GIFTS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD ! . . . Many has been asking me questions and clarification about the National Costume . Well 4 countries were briefed to be on standby as we were Top 4 for National Costume and Philippines was part of it too . We were told that a picture would be displayed if we made it to top 20 and if we don’t , we would have to put it on . The entire day the crew went on finding my costume as I was told to be the WINNER . That is why I got into the costume too . . . . I am totally fine with it because in my eyes , every girl that came to compete is a winner ! Philippines or Malaysia. , there isn’t any difference because we are O N E ! ❤️ Congratulations @zozitunzi for the title too ! Truly deserving indeed and I can’t wait to see your journey !!! 🙏🏻❤️ . . Congratulations to the very beautiful @gazinii too ! Love you so much babe 😘❤️ . . . And to my fellow Malaysians , I can’t wait to be back and get to work ! Trust me , this is just the beginning ! I can’t wait to make you all proud ! I AM UNSTOPPABLE 🇲🇾💪🏻❤️ . . . #MissUniverse #MissUniverseMalaysia #MissUniverseMalaysia2019 #RoadToMissUniverse #ShwetaSekhon #BeautyBeyondYou #YourBodyYourSay
A post shared by Shweta Sekhon 👑🇲🇾 (@shweta_sekhon_) on Dec 9, 2019 at 4:15am PST

In a press statement, the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) stressed that Steve did not make a mistake in announcing Ganidi as best in national costume.

“Mr. Harvey made a joke out of it, but no mistakes regarding the national costume winner were made by him, the prompter, or production,” it said.

In her post Monday night, Shweta said that she's \"totally fine\" with the mix-up and even congratulated Gazini on her best in national costume award.

“I am totally fine with it because in my eyes, every girl that came to compete is a winner! Philippines or Malaysia, there isn’t any difference because we are O N E!” she said.

“Congratulations to the very beautiful [Gazini!] Love you so much babe,” she added.

She went on to express her support for the new reigning queen, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa.

“Congratulations [Zozibini Tunzi] for the title, too! Truly deserving indeed and I can’t wait to see your journey!” she 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Miss Malaysia explains national costume award mix-up: ‘I was told to be the winner’ | PUSH.COM.PH