'Wheel of Fortune' player aspiring to become a Broadway star fails to solve puzzle and loses $40,000

Game shows aren't simply a way for people to win a vacation and cars, but they also provide a stage for players to showcase other talents, such as dancing and yo-yoing. When Aaron Paul made it big on "Breaking Bad," those who remembered him as a contestant on "The Price is Right" mentioned how his charisma and energy were visible on the game show. But things were different for an aspiring Broadway artist on “Wheel of Fortune,” since he fumbled big time in the bonus round, according to a TV Insider report. The contestant named Chris, who dreamed of mouthing lines in Broadway musicals, simply blurted out words but failed to guess the right phrase in time.

“Our future Broadway star Chris is in the Bonus Round. He’s got some fans with him,” host Ryan Seacrest said before starting the game. The contestant had brought his godmother, his friend, and his friend’s wife to the show to support him. He had chosen the Event category. As is the norm, the contestant was given the letters R, S, T, L, and E to start the round.

After these letters were revealed, the puzzle read, “____R ___T_R_.” Chris now had to choose three consonants and one vowel. He decided to go with P, M, C, and A. These were decent picks. The puzzle opened up a little bit more, and now, it read, “MA__R __CT_R_.” It didn’t look simple, but it was still solvable. The contestant’s 10-second timer started ticking, and he seemed lost right from the get-go.

He blurted out a few phrases like major holiday and major factory, but while neither of them was the correct answer, at least he got the first word right. “Major is right. Major victory is what we were going for,” Seacrest said. He then revealed that Chris could have won $40,000, but there were no hard feelings on his part. He still won more than  $12,000, a sum that he seemed quite happy with.

The Event category seems to have stumped more than one contestant in the Bonus Round of late. Another contestant who failed to get it right was a man called Andrew. He, too, came on the show during iHeart Radio week. However, unlike Chris, Andrew landed on the million-dollar wedge. The showrunners gave him the letter R, S, T, L, N, and E, after which the puzzle revealed itself a little bit. It was not a lot but still a start as the puzzle read, “__N_ __L____.” The contestant now had to pick three consonants and one vowel, and he chose the letters C, M, D, and O. The puzzle did reveal itself further, but it was quite difficult to get it right. It now read, “__N_ _OL_D__,” and the contestant did his best to figure out the answer.

Unfortunately, he could not get any answer out as the clock ticked down to zero. It was then revealed that the correct answer was ‘Bank Holiday.’ Andrew could have won $40,000, but with more than $17,000 already in the kitty, he wasn’t very disappointed.