The new Miss Universe isn’t as annoyed as her fans about the weird pageant moment when she was asked to imitate a cat.
Miss India -- and ultimate pageant winner -- Harnaaz Sandhu is now opening up about what went through her mind when, during the question and answer portion, an odd moment occurred when favorite animals came up.
The 70th annual Miss Universe pageant took place on December 12 in Eilat, Israel, where host Steve Harvey asked Sandhu to imitate her favorite animal.
Sandhu took the question like a pro, and in fact pulled off a fun impersonation of a cat meowing. Not that she wasn’t a little taken aback at the line of questioning, as she explained to Insider after the broadcast.
"I was like, 'Wait, they want me to do that on the Miss Universe world stage?'" Sandhu recalled. "But then I thought, 'This is my time to shine, and my time to showcase one of my great talents, and why not?'"
The studio audience gave a supportive response in the moment, but the whole thing came off as awkward to some home viewers.
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Many Twitter pageant fans were startled by the seemingly silly question that was asked of a women’s empowerment advocate. Especially since the other contestants were asked more serious questions, reports Insider.
“OMG Miss India meowing at Steve Harvey is not what I was expecting to see tonight,” commented Sarakshi Rai, Deputy Editor of Social Media for The Hill. “Pretty sure the Miss Universe organization could have asked a better question….”
Said another, “What a ridiculous first question was that? Miss India had so much more to say.”
And one of many more tweeters summed it up succinctly with, “I still can't believe it?! Like, really?! A whole Miss Universe competition and they made her meow like a cat?!”
But as the new Miss Universe told Insider, she had a much more relaxed response to the cat questioning, and held nothing against Harvey.
"We were having so much fun,” said Sandhu, “and that was my ultimate goal, to make everyone laugh. And when you have a great human being like Steve next to you, then you just can't stop being yourself. And I was just having fun and enjoying myself."
Nevertheless, the moment added to the list of strange situations that Steve Harvey has had while hosting the pageant over the years -- including the gaffe later in this very same contest where he once again almost named the wrong winner, like he did in 2015.
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But for Sandhu, it was all just part of the experience.
“The ultimate motto of having such questions is to have fun,” she said. “We are all different. We have different stories, and everyone was asked something related to their life. I'm happy I was asked a fun question because, at the end of the day, it definitely gets so serious. But after that question, I was feeling so comfortable. We are here to celebrate ourselves. It's not about being the perfect beauty pageant girl. It's about being yourself on the stage, and I think it takes huge courage to do something like that.”
As CinemaBlend pointed out, the 21-year old Sandhu is the first representative from India to win the Miss Universe pageant in 21 years – a fun coincidence, and surely a more interesting factoid to focus on than the fact she does a great cat impression.
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