Watch Miss Panama beauty queen’s awkward onstage blunder at Miss Grand International pageant

An embarrassing moment during the 2025 Miss Grand International pageant has gone viral after Miss Panama mistakenly thought she made the finals.

Host Matthew Deane announced the finalists during the pageant on Saturday in Bangkok, Thailand, and called out Miss Paraguay Cecilia Romero as a finalist.

However, Miss Panama Isamar Herrera thought her country was called instead, and did an excited cheer before walking to the front to join the other finalists.

Herrera clapped, completed her pageant walk, and even posed while the crowd went almost completely silent.

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Deane then awkwardly interjected, “Uh, I beg your pardon, I announced Miss Grand Paraguay.”

“There is a lot of noise in this hall, packed with fans from all over the world,” he added.

As Romero walked forward, Herrera awkwardly walked back to her place.

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Herrera didn’t end up making the finals, and Miss Philippines Emma Tiglao was ultimately crowned the winner of Miss Grand International. 

But Herrera handled the mishap with grace, taking the awkward moment in stride.

“These things happen,” she said after the pageant, according to the Daily Mail. “It was a mistake and this is a competition.”

“You have to know how to lose and recognize the triumph of others,” she continued.

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The beauty pageant contestant also received support on social media, with some blaming Romero for not coming forward sooner after “Miss Grand Paraguay” was called.

“So why didn’t Paraguay step forward initially???” one comment on TikTok reads.

“Clearly Paraguay wasn’t listening either. Because he had to repeat it a second time for her to come up,” another comment reads.

Others blamed the pageant organizers.

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“This whole production seems like a mess,” one critic wrote. “They called Paraguay, the camera focuses on Canada, and Panama comes marching in with no one stopping her.”

But plenty said they wouldn’t have been able to recover from the embarrassing blunder.

“The way ï would have kept walking right off that stage, into my car and straight home 🤦‍♀,” one comment reads.

“I’d go into witness protection 😭,” another joked.