Don’t ever let anyone tell you that making a mistake is the worst thing in the world, for you never know which of your blunders could be accompanied by a huge payday. That seems to be what’s happening with Steve Harvey – whose erroneous announcement on Sunday night’s Miss Universe pageant turned him into Internet fodder – as the comedian has reportedly entered into a lucrative deal that would keep him hosting the annual telecast for at least the next three years.
It doesn’t look like the gaffe played any part in the deal, though, as Harvey is said to have signed the contract a few days before this year’s Miss Universe pageant aired. There hasn’t been an official announcement of the partnership just yet, as the news comes from ET, but it’s said to be set up so that Harvey would be the host for at least three more years, with the possibility that he could stay on for twice that long, hosting the next six or seven pageants.
Somewhat surprisingly, a large chunk of change apparently went into securing Harvey, and the numbers were “more than they’ve ever paid before for a host.” Not that you need much faith to believe Harvey is worth the money, since he’s a dependable ball of charisma and quick thinking, but I would have thought they’d have waited to see his first outing before deciding to spend a lot of moolah on a years-long agreement. I guess that’s why no one ever tasked me with finding a Miss Universe host.
Everyone involved with the show, including new pageant owners WME/IMG, was happy with Harvey’s skills regardless of him misidentifying the winner, and WME’s Mark Shapiro recently said that they want him back. Was he just pretending the deal didn’t exist or is that a sign that the deal doesn’t exist? Conspiracy!
There’s no denying that Steve Harvey is a great choice to stick around with, and it can be argued that his flub drew more attention to the Miss Universe telecast than it would have received otherwise. Granted, maybe it wasn’t always the most sought-after form of attention, but there’s a good chance next year’s pageant will gain a number of new viewers tuning in to see how the host will do the second time around, as they clutch their hot chocolate mugs with “Adele Dazeem” etched into them.
At 58, Harvey still has as much pep in his step as he ever did, but will that still be the case when he reaches retirement age? Possibly so. He probably bathes in the embarrassment of Family Feud contestants to keep himself young, and there’s no end in sight to that.
