The Miss Universe Montenegro organization has apologized to Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach after its representative to the annual pageant reportedly prevented the newly crowned Miss Universe from getting near Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez after the botched announcement of winners last Dec. 20.

In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, the organization said the gesture of Miss Montenegro Maja Cukic was “unintentional,” adding that the “beautiful” Wurtzbach was deserving of winning the title.

“Congratulations on Pia Wurtzbach title of Miss Universe 2015. The girl is beautiful, worthy to bear the title of most beautiful girl and with her behavior and beauty to be an example for all girls around the world,” the statement read.

“We are sorry that a technical error that occurred in the live program caused unpleasant comments at the expense of her title. The whole misunderstanding had stressful affect all contestants, especially to Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines. We apologize to the fans and organizers of the Miss Philippines due to unintentional gesture of our representative, Miss Montenegro.”

In the pageant’s live broadcast, various contestants were seen approaching Miss Colombia to console her after host Steve Harvey mistakenly named her as the new Miss Universe. Miss Montenegro and some Latina candidates reportedly refused Wurtzbach to get near to the emotional Gutierrez. YG