During the finals of the competition in Bangkok, Miss Panama assumed she heard her country’s name called and therefore confidently walked on the stage, believing that she had been selected amongst the finalists.

She posed in front of the crowd, who applauded her, only for the host to interrupt and mention that he had announced Miss Grand Paraguay and not Miss Panama.

The host mentioned: ‘I beg your pardon, I announced Miss Grand Paraguay… There is a lot of noise in this hall…’, acknowledging the confusion.

Herrera was visibly embarrassed, stepped off the spotlight and allowed Paraguay’s contestant Cecilia Romero to take the rightful place. Netizens showed sympathy with Herrera, suggesting the mix-up may not have been due to sound/announcement issues or a language barrier.

Since then, the mistake has gone viral as an excruciating moment, and highlighted the stressful high stakes environment in international beauty pageants.

Ultimately, she did not make the top finalists list and the error overshadowned her performance at the same moment in time.