'Wheel of Fortune' contestant loses $50,000 after getting a puzzle that fans thought was a 'disaster'
Games on “Wheel of Fortune” are designed to be engaging and fun, while contestants winning big on the show give hope to millions watching at home. But when it comes to the Bonus Round, things get tough, and sometimes it can be almost impossible to solve puzzles. One contestant spoke out after losing $50,000 due to his failure to decode an extremely tough puzzle. The loss of the contestant named Kyle MacDonald upset the fans as well, since they hadn't seen a winner in the bonus round for a while, according to a TV Insider report.
“It was simultaneously the shortest day of your life and the longest day of your life because you’re there starting at 7 am, and everything is happening at the quickest pace that you’d imagine,” he said in an interview with CBS. “The most exciting thing was really getting to know all of the other contestants. You spend the entire day with them and even though you’re competing against each other, you’re actively cheering each other on.”
He seemed to be pleased after appearing on the show, and with reason. Kyle left with $27,950 in cash and prizes. However, things could have been a lot better had he won the Bonus Round. He had chosen the ‘Person’ category and was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. The contestant then picked the letters D, M, P, and O.
Following this, the puzzle read, “_ _ _OMPL_S_ED _ _ _ _TOR.” He got the first word correct as he was trying to solve, but had no idea what the second word could be. At the end of 10 seconds, Kyle could not get the correct answer, which was revealed to be ‘accomplished aviator.’ Host Ryan Seacrest then revealed that he could have won $50,000 extra as a prize.
Fans didn't hide their frustration when they flooded the comments section on YouTube. “I SWEAR TO GOD IF WE DON'T HAVE A BONUS ROUND WINNER AGAIN. THEN I SWEAR. I'LL NOT BE HAPPY ABOUT WHEEL OF FORTUNE IS TURNING INTO WHEEL OF DISASTER,” one user commented. “Bro, someone needs to end the curse. 10 times in a row would be crazy,” another fan mentioned.
Kyle, however, was over his loss pretty quickly and shared an emotional post on Instagram. “I’ve been a fan of Wheel forever – I’ll always remember sitting with my Nana as a kid watching Pat and Vanna while learning about my ABCs, ampersands, and apostrophes. She instilled in me a (slightly obsessive) love of game shows, and I wish that she could’ve been here to see my dream turn into reality,” he wrote.
The contestant lived his childhood dream and was able to win cash and prizes worth almost $30,000 while doing so. As far as he’s concerned, losing the Bonus Round was something that he was never going to ruin the lovely time he had.
