An embarrassing moment during the 2025 Miss Grand International pageant went viral after Miss Panama mistakenly thought she had made it to the finals.
Host Matthew Dean announced the finalists Saturday during the pageant in Bangkok, Thailand, naming Miss Paraguay Cecilia Romero as a finalist.
But Miss Panama Izamar Herrera thought her country had been called instead and cheered excitedly as she led the way to join the other finalists.
Herrera finished her pageant walk to applause and even posed for a pose as the crowd fell almost completely silent.
Then Dean interjected awkwardly. “Um, excuse me, but I have announced Miss Gran Paraguay.”
“This hall is packed with fans from all over the world and it’s noisy,” he added.
As Romero walked forward, Herrera awkwardly walked back to his spot.
Herrera did not make it to the finals, and Miss Philippines Emma Tiglao was ultimately crowned the winner of Miss Grand International.
However, Herrera navigated the awkward moment well and handled the incident with grace.
“These things happen,” she said after the contest, according to the Daily Mail. “That was a mistake. This is a competition.”
“You have to know how to lose and how to recognize others’ victories,” she continued.
The beauty pageant contestant also received support on social media, with some criticizing Romero for not coming forward soon after being crowned Miss Gran Paraguay.
“Then why didn’t Paraguay come forward in the first place???” One comment on TikTok read:
Another comment read: “Paraguay clearly wasn’t listening either because he had to repeat it twice for her to show up.”
Some criticized the contest organizers.
One critic wrote, “This whole production looks like a mess.” “They called Paraguay, the cameras focused on Canada, and Panama marched on without anyone stopping them.”
But many said they would never have recovered from this embarrassing failure.
One commenter wrote: “That would have been the way to get off that stage, get in the car and go straight home 🤦♀.”
“If it were me I’d go into witness protection 😭,” another joked.
