'Wheel of Fortune' player misses easy marriage puzzle just after bragging about her engagement

Contestants on “Wheel of Fortune” often like to show their talents or talk about their personal life experiences, but that doesn't necessarily mean they can ace the game. It happened with a contestant who aspired to deliver lines in Broadway musicals but failed to come up with the right phrase by solving a puzzle. In a similar incident, a contestant named Gwen, who boasted about her recent engagement, fumbled when it came to a puzzle about marriage of all things.

Gwen, a flight surgeon, had recently said yes to her partner and described it as a beautiful proposal since it was in the Alps, according to The US Sun. She made sure to let everyone know about it, but when the time came to answer the puzzle about marriage, she failed miserably. The contestant was faced with a three-word puzzle in the Event category. Before the contestant opted to solve it, the puzzle revealed itself to read, “SURPRISE _ARRIA_E PROPOSA_.” It seemed like an easy solve, and Gwen confidently said that she wanted to solve it. Everyone expected her to get it right, but she ended up saying, “Surprise carriage proposal.” There was a silence in the studio audience, and the contestant immediately knew that she had made a mistake that was as silly as it gets.

She was up against a magician named Ron who immediately said the right answer, “Surprise marriage proposal.” Host Pat Sajak was perhaps shocked by the earlier answer as well, as he had walked up to the contestant and said, "Sometimes you get excited, and your mouth doesn’t say what your brain intended. I’m sorry." That was not the only interaction they had about the matter. "Well, you know you watch the show, and stuff happens like that sometimes. But here’s the rule, and you know this, Gwen, as a flight surgeon - put that behind you. That’s done, nothing you can do,” he added later on. The damage was done, however, and it did not take long for fans to jump on the contestant and call her out for her wrong answer on social media.

“Sorry, I know it’s the holiday season, & not the time to blurt out harsh sentiments, but that woman on Wheel of Fortune…what the hell was she thinking? Here’s the puzzle. The gal in the middle, when it was an obvious solve, said, “surprise carriage proposal,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

“Surprise carriage proposal?!? And her intro story was about her BF proposing on the Alps!" quipped another user. “What an idiot..surprise carriage proposal. #wheeloffortune," a third user wrote. One of the fans of the show even posted a video of the moment and remarked how her mom was extremely upset about the performance.