Pat Sajak once yelled 'shut up' at an excited 'Wheel of Fortune' contestant in bizarre TV moment
The departure of Pat Sajak as "Wheel of Fortune" host was emotional for his colleagues and fans who remember him as a warm and friendly figure on TV screens. But even the star host has had moments when he faced flak from fans for his blunders or saying things that didn't go down well with viewers. According to The Mirror, a lot of viewers called him out on X (formerly Twitter), when he told a contestant to shut up on air.
The contestant, Angela Omezie had won a jackpot, and Sajak was telling her what she had won, just when the excited contestant cut him off. He was just saying, "According to my math, by $200...," until the contestant asked him to, “Shut up.” Sajak quickly composed himself and asked, "You didn't mean that personally?" It seemed like a light moment on the show but before leaving her side, Sajak mocked her and said, “Shut up.”
This is what made a lot of fans angry, and they took to X to criticize the veteran host. “Did you all hear Pat Sajak tell the today's winner, a black woman, to shut up?!? He didn't tell the previous screamer to shut up, but she was white. I felt last year should have been his last year. He's increasingly annoyed with excited folk,” user Pat Carmichael wrote. “I realize it was intended as banter but #PatSajak screaming “shut up” at a black woman on @WheelofFortune is not a good look,” quipped another user Hudson Mack.
But it was pretty evident that the contestant was not offended by it. She made it to the bonus round in which she could have won $40,000. Unfortunately, Angela did not get the puzzle right but she took it quite well and seemed happy with the $11,900 she took home.
Asking someone to shut up is one thing, but tackling a contestant on TV is a whole different ball game. That’s another unexpected thing that Sajak did with one contestant named Fred “The Fletcher” Jackson who was a man of many talents. He was a drama teacher, bar trivia host, and pro wrestler, and that third talent seemed to trigger the actions of the long-time game show host.
It all unfolded when Jackson was on a winning streak during that particular episode of “Wheel of Fortune.” He got every single puzzle right as his purse value kept on increasing. In the bonus round, he had a chance to win $40,000 and the puzzle was on the screen. After a couple of wrong answers, he got the correct one, all within 10 seconds and this win took his total winnings to a whopping $75,800.
As Jackson was celebrating with his loved ones, Sajak sneaked up from behind and pretended to put him in an arm bar. Being a pro wrestler, the contestant played along with the move to the best of his abilities and it made for a surprising but hilarious moment.
