Australia's Next Top Model host Sarah Murdoch can't stop cringing after live final mistake

I still feel sick': Australia's Next Top Model host Sarah Murdoch can't stop cringing after live final mistake - Australia's Next Top Model host has admitted that she is still feeling sick about mistakenly announcing the wrong winner on the show's live final.

Sarah Murdoch, who is married to Rupert Murdoch's son, Lachlan, named Kelsey Martinovich as the contest winner at the Sydney event.

But moments later, she realised she'd crowned the wrong girl, in what is being called the TV blooper of the year.

Short-lived joy: Kelsey Martinovich, centre, is told she has won by Sarah Murdoch, right, while the real winner Amanda Ware applauds politely

OMG! Shocked Sarah Murdoch discovers she was fed the wrong name and works out how she's going to announce the amended result

She said: 'I still feel sick about it.

'I still haven't been able to bring myself to watch a playback.'

When it was suggested that the mishap was actually a publicity stunt, Miss Murdoch responded: 'I don't even know how to answer this question. You can see how close we are with the girls.

'You wouldn't put your worst enemy through the situation, let alone these girls.'

Then she added, jokingly: 'I've always been a fan of live television but perhaps I'll stick with pre-records for now'.

What had happened, she explained last night on Australian television, was a bad feed through her earpiece, which was linked through to the judging panel.

Anxious wait: Kelsey, left, and Amanda hold hands as they wait to learn which of them has won Australia's Next Top Model

Er, there's been a mistake: Sarah Murdoch has to tell the girls she announced the result incorrectly

And the winner was actually... Now it's Kelsey's turn to put her hands to her face as Amanda is declared the real victor

She said she had not been told ahead of time who the winner was and was waiting for it to be communicated through the earpiece.

The last information she had received, she said, was 'Kelsey one, Amanda two', but when the time came to announce the winner, she had heard no new information.

'I had nothing,' she said 'It didn't come at that moment so I went with what I was last told.'

Murdoch had actually replaced a host, Jodhi Mears, who famously made a string of mistakes during the 2007 edition of Australia's Next Top Model.

Winning figure: Amanda Ware strikes a pose after the Next Top Model embarrassment was cleared up

She could hardly bear to tell Miss Martinovich that she hadn't won after all - and that the runner up, 18-year-old Amanda Ware, was actually the winner.

As the two young women stared in bewilderment, Miss Murdoch said: 'Oh my God, I don't know what to say right now.

'I'm feeling a bit sick about this. No. I'm so sorry about this. Oh my God. I don't know what to say. This was a complete accident.

'It's Amanda. I'm so sorry. It was fed to me wrong. Oh God. This is what happens when you have live TV, folks. This is insane. Insane, insane, insane.'

The top prize - a £15,000,a contract with a modelling agency, a trip to New York, a £12,000 cash prize and a spread in a glossy Australian magazine - was then awarded to Miss Ware.

Miss Martinovich, 19, who had gone from winner to runner-up, was gracious in her shock, repeating 'It's OK,' as she congratulated Miss Ware.

'It's ridiculous, how could this happen?' asked Miss Murdoch, who is married to Rupert Murdoch's son, Lachlan, owner of a 50 per cent stake in Daily Mail and General Trust Group's network of radio stations in Australia. ( dailymail.co.uk )