Miss Teen USA about Her Mistake: 'I Was Shocked!' YouTube Still Laughs

If you didn't hear about it, although I think it's impossible, here's the story so far: being questioned why she thought that most of the Americans are not able to locate the US on the map, Miss South Carolina Teen USA offered a very funny and embarrassing (for her) answer that brought hugeaudience to all the websites which posted the clip. Obviously, YouTube was one of the winners of this mistake but Lauren Caitlin Upton had to do something to repair her image. That's why she decided to go to the 'Today' show and explain what happened on the stage. Her first explanation: "I made a mistake."

I'm sure you did. We all heard it. "Everything did come at me at once. I was overwhelmed, and I made a mistake. I'm human," the 18-year-old girl continued according to People.com. "I was in complete shock, and I was just overwhelmed. I drew a blank and I misunderstood."

What's most interesting is that Mario Lopez, the host of the event, was sitting on the stage, right near Miss South Carolina Teen USA but he couldn't get himself involved in the answer although he knew it was embarrassing for the girl. "It was a very intense moment. It's live TV. You don't know what the question is until you get up there. And I believe that she misunderstood it. She went down the wrong road and couldn't figure out how to get back to the right one. I felt really badly for her," he said according to the same source.

Although the problem has been clarified, YouTube receives an impressive amount of traffic from the visitors looking for the girl's mistake. At this time, the YouTube clip has no less than 8,431,488 views, 29,164 comments and was saved as favorite by 13,572 users.

But the folks from the 'Today' show gave her the chance to answer the question again, as a last attempt to repair her image. "Personally, my friends and I, we know exactly where the United States is on our map. I don't know anyone else who doesn't. And if the statistics are correct, I believe there should be more emphasis on geography in our education so people will learn how to read maps better," she proudly answered.