Featured Image Credit: Wheel of Fortune/NBC
Wheel of Fortune viewers were left screaming at their television sets this week, after a contestant was sensationally ‘robbed’ of $40,000.
California high school choir director Megan appeared on the much-loved, long-standing game show on Tuesday (January 30) with the hope of bagging a pretty penny.
Luck appeared to be on the woman’s side during the first few segments of the puzzle-solving show, racking up tens of thousands of dollars within minutes.
And towards the end of the show, when the category changed to being about ‘Living Things’, Megan appeared relieved, as though this was a subject she could handle.
After spinning the wheel, the show’s host Pat Sajak collects the prize estimate card before walking her to a new puzzle to solve.
“_ _ N _ / _ R _ _ _ _,” the brain-teaser read, after which Megan quickly went on to guess several others letters.
Adding in a P, a C and a D, the puzzle soon read: “P _ N _ / _ R C _ _ D”.
As the clock was ticking and the dreaded timer looming, Megan continued to make as many guesses as she could.
During the final 10 seconds remaining, she blurted out her final guess, though the words she said were rather unclear.
While it sounded partially as though she’d said ‘Pink Orchid’, she may have also said ‘Something Orchid’.
The timer then popped off, before the final few correct letters were added to the board, revealing that the puzzle did, in fact, read ‘Pink Orchid’.
But being that it was unclear that this was exactly what Megan had said, the presenter took away her chances at walking away with the $40k on the prize card.
“You might have been overthinking a type of orchid. I’m sorry that didn’t work out for you,” host Sajak told her, explaining that she’s instead have to leave with $14,007.
Despite the outcome that aired on TV, however, viewers have since hit out at Wheel of Fortune producers, claiming the result of Megan’s episode was unfair.
Taking to X, one fan of the show penned: “The woman got screwed on #WheelOfFortune bonus puzzle tonight, she totally said ‘PINK ORCHID’ right at the start.”
Another slammed: “I questioned the judges from the first thing she said!! I’m deaf in one ear, and half remaining on right, so I use captions and lip read. She said ‘Pink Orchid’!! No question!!”
“Hey @WheelofFortune I heard the contestant say ‘pink orchid’ at the beginning of that final puzzle & rewound it to make sure. You owe her some $$$” a third wrote.
UNILAD has contacted NBC and Wheel of Fortune for comment.
Wheel of Fortune viewers furious at host Pat Sajak after contestant ‘robbed’ of $100,000 win
Featured Image Credit: NBC
Wheel of Fortune viewers have been left furious at host Pat Sajak after claiming that he ‘robbed’ a contestant of a $100,000 win.
The game show host is being slammed for the results after sparking total outrage on social media for the alleged unfair treatment of the hopeful contestant.
The contestant, Alexa, ended up missing out on a hefty fortune over the incident. Now that’s ‘wheely’ unlucky.
Alexa, a college student, missed out on the $100k jackpot during an episode of the show that aired last week (6 April).
She was answering a bonus round question after the buzzer when the controversy began.
The contestant was given the prompt ‘What are you doing?’ with just a matter of seconds left to go on the timer.
After picking out her letters, Wheel of Fortune co-host Vanna White showed the letters which Alexa was left with.
The board read: “_ _ST _IN_IN_ IT.”
With the time ticking and the stakes high – Alexa desperately tried to figure out the bonus question.
Alexa’s answer was ‘Just Winning It’ – which she said multiple times – but host Sajak was convinced she had got it incorrect.
The correct answer, much to Alexa’s dismay was actually ‘Just Winging It’.
But, here’s where it gets heated, as many viewers are convinced that Alexa didn’t fluff the answer and that she did in fact figure it out at the very last second.
Some were outraged by the results and hit out at the host for ‘robbing’ the contestant from a hefty win.
One Twitter posted: “I’m absolutely certain that the first thing she said was ‘Just Winging It.’ You owe that young woman an apology and $100,000!”, while another commented: “Pat Sajak is a f**king a**hole.”
“Pat Sajak is just a piece of cr*p,” claimed another.
And a third added: “Get that deaf old goat Pat Sajak out of there.”
Ouch.
Others, however, believed that the contestant lost fair and square and that Sajak had nothing to do with her big loss.
“The contestant even acknowledged that she got it wrong, so this outrage is literally over nothing,” a Reddit user claimed, referring to the fact that Alexa said she was ‘so close’ after losing.
A second explained: “She said ‘winning’. It’s pretty clear. Then she tried multiple versions of ‘winning it’. Not sure why people are mad, much less mad at Pat.”
A few others then rushed to Sajak’s defence explaining a little more about the ins and outs of the game show.
One Reddit user wrote: “People do understand Pat doesn’t decide s**t, it’s producers in the back.”
“Why are people mad at Pat Sajak?” a second echoed. “The dude is the host. He wears an earpiece and they have people behind the scenes decide if she got it right or not.”
What do you make of it?
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak tackles contestant in incredibly bizarre moment
Featured Image Credit: NBC
If you tuned into Wheel of Fortune mid episode, you might have been lucky enough to catch host Pat Sajak tackling a contestant in an odd spectacle.
Earlier this year in a March episode of the show, 76-year-old TV legend Pat Sajak took it upon himself to take the show in a slightly unexpected direction.
Wheel of Fortune’s star player that episode, Fred, revealed some details about himself, most notably that he was a professional wrestler.
As well as this, he was a bar trivia host and a drama teacher – but his wrestling vocation will become more important later.
Fred detailed that he isn’t paid well to wrestle but does it just for the fun of the sport.
It was a pretty successful night for Fred as he won numerous rounds during the Hawaii-themed episode, with him solving the ‘Pineapple upside-down cake’ puzzle.
After guessing countless words correctly, Sajak can be heard joking: “Well, the Fred Fletcher Jackson show continues.”
Fred’s clean sweep meant he was able to progress to the final round with $5,700 in the bank. The two other guests could barely get a word in edgeways and Sajak gave a hilarious apology to them, before jokingly calling Fred a ‘brute’ for doing so well.
“To you two, I want to say it happens sometimes – someone just gets really hot,” Sajak says.
“Just because he’s a professional wrestler… You want me to body slam him for you? I can do that.”
Fred took home an extra $40,000 after guessing the final phrase ‘His mind is wandering’ correctly and Sajak – who has hosted the show since 1981 – was in shock.
In keeping with his promise to the two unfortunate guests from earlier, Sajak grabs and tries to tackle Fred while the audience watch and applaud.
Thankfully, the hilarious moment was all in good fun and Fred survived long enough to take home his $75,800 earnings.
Before being humorously tackled, Fred flexed his biceps happily after guessing the final phrase.
His father, who joined him onstage shortly after his final winning moment, stood and watched as Sajak grabbed his son from behind.
“Why didn’t he body slam Pat?” one fan quipped in the comments.
A second viewer wrote: “Fred is a part-time wrestler, so Pat joined with his prowess.”
While another commenter shared: “That was a good one!! The end was so funny.”
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak tackles contestant in incredibly bizarre moment
Featured Image Credit: NBC
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak raised eyebrows in a jaw-dropping moment with a contestant.
It was business as usual for 76-year-old TV legend and long-time Wheel of Fortune host on Tuesday’s episode (21 March) before things took an unexpected turn.
The episode’s star player, named Fred, revealed he has a bunch of talents including being a bar trivia host, working as a drama teacher and a professional wrestler.
Now, the last job mentioned is the one that clearly piqued Sajak’s interest (more on that later), though Fred shared that he gets paid ‘very little’ to take part in the sport, and he likes to wrestle ‘for the fun’.
It was a pretty successful night for Fred as he won numerous rounds during the Hawaii-themed episode. He solved the ‘Pineapple upside-down cake’ puzzle for starters and was on a roll.
After guessing countless words correctly, Sajak can be heard joking: “Well, the Fred Fletcher Jackson show continues.”
Fred’s clean sweep meant he was able to progress to the final round with $5,700 in the bank. The two other guests could barely get a word in edgewise (literally) and Sajak gave an hilarious apology to them before jokingly calling Fred a ‘brute’ for doing so well
“To you two, I want to say it happens sometimes – someone just gets really hot,” Sajak says.
“Just because he’s a professional wrestler… You want me to body slam him for you? I can do that.”
Fred took home an extra $40,000 after guessing the final phrase ‘His mind is wandering’ correctly and Sajak – who has hosted the show since 1981 – was in shock.
In keeping with his promise to the two unfortunate guests from earlier, Sajak grabs and tries to tackle Fred while the audience watch and applaud.
Thankfully, the hilarious moment was all in good fun and Fred survived long enough to take home his $75,800 earnings.
Before being humorously tackled, Fred flexed his biceps happily after guessing the final phrase. His father, who joined him onstage shortly after his final winning moment, stood and watched as Sajak grabbed his son from behind.
“Why didn’t he body slam Pat?” one fan quipped in the comments.
A second viewer wrote: “Fred is a part-time wrestler, so Pat joined with his prowess.”
While another commenter shared: “That was a good one!! The end was so funny.”
Just in case you want to potentially see more of Sajak’s wrestling moves, Wheel of Fortune will host a WWE week from 27th-31st March.
Wheel of Fortune contestant tackled by Pat Sajak breaks his silence on the bizarre moment
Featured Image Credit: NBC
The Wheel of Fortune contestant who was tackled by host Pat Sajak has revealed how he really feels about the viral moment that left viewers stunned.
The long-running game show took an unusual turn this week when the 76-year-old TV legend decided to show off his wrestling moves no one knew he had.
It all started when the episode’s star player, Fred Jackson, revealed one of his many talents is working as a professional wrestler.
Jackson guessed countless words correctly and beat two other contestants to the final round. Sajak – who has hosted the show since 1981 – took note and jokingly asked the two unfortunate contestants if they wanted him to ‘body slam’ Jackson.
“Just because he’s a professional wrestler… You want me to body slam him for you? I can do that,” he teased.
Little did viewers know, Sajak would (sort of) remain true to his word.
Jackson won a total of $45,700 after guessing the final phrase correctly and after sweeping through all the rounds, Sajak was in shock.
As Jackson flexed his biceps happily after guessing the final phrase, his father joined him onstage and stood and watched as Sajak grabbed his son from behind and put him in an odd headlock called the ‘chicken wing’.
While most viewers thought the moment was hilarious and asked Jackson why he didn’t body slam Sajak, others were more concerned.
Now, Jackson has revealed that he wasn’t harmed during the moment and it was all in good fun. In fact, he actually loved it and called it one of the highlights from the whole show.
“As a pro wrestler and as a guy of showbiz and as the guy he was putting in that hold, I loved that moment. L-O-V-E.” he told TMZ.
“That was one of the biggest highlights of the show. So, for me personally, to see it from my perspective, seeing the criticising that he gets online is a little unfair. Like, I was the one who was put in the hold and I was perfectly OK with it. In fact, I loved it.”
He added: “I don’t think they [viewers] should get any more upset than I’m getting because I was the one who was like ‘affected’ in that kind of way.”
Jackson said the viral moment may not be everyone’s sense of humour and defended Sajak against any criticism online.
“To call it cringe and to call for his retirement, like… taking it a little bit too seriously, I think.”
Jackson explained that the moment played out exactly how it appeared on TV and he tried to ‘counter’ Sajak and ‘actually have a wrestling match’.
“But he had me so tight that I wasn’t going anywhere,” he recalled. “He is way stronger than he looks.”