Am I the Dense One?

In yesterday's New York Daily News, an article discussed Project Runway and interviewed Christian Siriano, last season's winner. In something that I found particularly odd, the writer noted that Siriano had a signature catchphrase: fierce.

Then the writer parenthetically tells us that it rhymes with "pierce."

Is this a widely held secret? Do readers of the New York Daily News commonly have difficulty with diphthongs? Or do people so rarely use the word "fierce" that they don't know how to say it? Finally, if someone is going to continue into the third paragraph of this article, he is likely a fan of the show already and will be aware of the correct pronunciation of "fierce."

Of course, I suspect that "fierce" is more rarely used than "pierce." After all, pierce can be something you do to a body part. Or it can be an old car or a former President. You can also "pierce" the sky, etc...

Maybe there is an inside joke. I have casually watched the show, but some tall, blond, German woman keeps annoying the crap out of me. And that is fierce, but in a bad way.