Nervous contestant makes epic Wheel of Fortune fail, loses $1M

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Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak tried to console a contestant this week when he lost his chance to win $1 million after flubbing a easy answer.

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As he tried to solve a puzzle in the “Fun & Games” category, contestant Izzy Santiago landed on the coveted $1 million spot.

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With the board nearly completed, Santiago just need a few letters to complete the phrase: “_RA_I_G _AME_ _ROM A HAT.”

He guessed “F,” before Sajak urged him to “Spin it or solve it!” as the clock ticked down.

Santiago confidently decided to answer, but stumbled badly, losing his chance at the $1 million prize.

“I’ll solve,” Santiago exclaimed. “Drawing games from a hat!”

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“No,” Sajak said as the next contestant went on to answer correctly. But the outgoing host returned to Santiago to offer some words of support.

“You know, in addition to the regular nervous system — now here’s a million dollars and all this stuff. ‘What am I gonna do?’,” Sajak said consoling Santiago.

“I was so nervous,” Santiago said, to which Sajak replied, “Things like that happen.”

“NO WAY IZZY SAID DRAWING GAMES FROM A HAT,” one fan chided on X.

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“This #wheeloffortune guy is an idiot,” another viewer wrote dismissively. “He just had a million dollar spin and screwed it up.”

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But Santiago isn’t alone in making a big error on a seemingly answer in recent weeks.

On an episode last month, a woman named Jessica Washington provided viewers with some intended laughs when she flubbed her chance to solve an answer in the “What Are You Doing?” category.

With only one letter remaining, the board read: “DINING IN THE DINING _AR.”

“I’d like to solve, Pat,” Washington said with a cautious smile, guessing, “Dining in the Dining Jar.”

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“Car. Car. C.A.R.,” one person raged on X, with another jokingly endorsing the response by sharing a clip of a dog with its snout in a jar and the caption, “Checks out.”

“Folks like this deserve to be destitute,” one fan dismissed, as another exclaimed, “These people are morons!”

“New season of Wheel of Fortune, but still some unfathomable responses,” a fifth viewer swiped. “When have you ever heard the term, ‘Dining in the Dining Jar’ before tonight? An epic of epic fails.”

“There might be a C up there somewhere,” teased Sajak.

But Washington was a good sport about her blunder, writing on Instagram, “This was an experience of a lifetime filled with laughs.”

Still, it remains to be seen where Washington and Santiago’s errors will rank on the pantheon of Wheel mistakes this year.

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Last week, former NFL running back Rashad Jennings dropped the ball badly on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.

Fans were in stitches when the athlete fumbled an easy answer involving Quentin Tarantino.

With “DRIVING TO RENO WITH _UENTIN TARANTINO” already filled in, Jennings needed just one letter to finish the puzzle in the “Rhyme Time” category. “I wish I could help, I really do, but you can buy some time by spinning,” Sajak said before Jennings’ turn.

Jennings, who played for three teams during his seven seasons in the NFL, quickly chose the letter “P” after landing on $600, which would have spelt “PUENTIN,” instead of “QUENTIN.”

“No, no, I’m sorry no,” Sajak replied.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, during the show’s Teen Week, 10th grader Khushi was trying to finish a phrase in the “Food & Drink” category, with the answer being “FRESH TROPICAL FRUIT.”

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With the puzzle almost solved, Khushi just needed the “S” and “H” to complete the answer. After guessing “H”, the teen was stumped with the final missing letter.

“Solve it or spin it or… but do something quickly,” host Pat Sajak urged as the clock ran down, which led Khushi to take another spin.

Clearly stumped and confused, when it came time for Khushi to give her answer she said, “I’ll go with a … ‘G’,” which would have spelled “FREGH.”

On social media, Khushi’s fumble had followers scratching their heads.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a single audience member audibly have such a violent reaction on Wheel of Fortune, as this lady did when a poor contestant called a G in ‘Fresh,’” one person wrote on Twitter.

“This may have been the biggest choke in all of Wheel of Fortune history,” another observed.

But Sajak came to Khushi’s defence. “You know when that happens and you’re sitting at home, you’re saying, ‘How in the world can that (not be solved)? But, you know, sometimes it’s a word that just doesn’t want to come into focus for you.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com

X: @markhdaniell

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