The 2015 Miss Universe competition will go down as arguably the most cringeworthy moment in television history and nobody took it in the chin more than pageant host Steve Harvey.

Talking to Jimmy Fallon on the "Tonight Show" on Tuesday, Harvey opened up about what happened behind the scenes. He said he remembers receiving vague instructions over his earpiece and following them, before ending up calling Miss Colombia the winner.

"I go on the back four minutes later. I hear a lot of words that you can’t say on TV," Harvey said, describing those moments as "pure hell."

• READ: Expect 'pakulo' between Duterte, Steve Harvey at Miss Universe pageant

"Explicit, explicit, explicit and they said, 'We said the wrong name.' And the guy said, 'What are we gonna do?' And the guy said, 'We’ll straighten it out in the media tomorrow.' And I said, 'No, I’m gonna do it now.' And I walked out there.

"It was the most gut-wrenching walk I’ve ever had in my life. And I went back out there, but you know, I was brought up that way, man, to kind of just face whatever it is so I went out there and dealt with it and I tried to straighten it out."

The Miss Universe contest will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on January 30, 2017.