'Wheel of Fortune' fans call out the show after player lost $50,000 due to an outdated phrase
Fans of "Wheel of Fortune" are unforgiving when a contestant fails to solve a puzzle that does not look so difficult, but at the same time, they slam the show's producers if they feel it was impossible to solve. The show is now facing flak for using an "outdated" phrase in the Bonus Round of the show that cost a player $73,000. Alex Puglisi was close to winning $50,000 in the final round before it all got away from her. Fans accused the show of being a rip-off, as the phrase "On The Jukebox" in the puzzle was outdated and rarely used.
Puglisi was off to a flying start after solving the very first toss-up puzzle to take a $1,000 lead. While the other contestants kept landing on the Bankrupt wedge, Puglisi solved another puzzle to win $2,950 more. Unfortunately, she landed on the Bankrupt wedge during the third puzzle as well and had to start from scratch. Puglisi made a great comeback by solving puzzles on the fly to take the lead and win a trip on the Alpine rail tour. She went on to solve all three puzzles of the Triple Toss Up round as well to add $10,000 to her winnings. By the end of the initial rounds, Puglisi emerged victorious with a total of $23,469. She advanced to the Bonus Round and picked the popular category, Phrase, for the final puzzle of the episode. She was joined by her parents on stage, who cheered her on as she proceeded to spin the wheel.
The show's host, Ryan Seacrest, picked out the Golden Card for her, which could help her win up to $100,000 or a brand new car. As the player took center stage, she got letters, “R,S,T,L,N, E,” filled in, and went on to choose “C,D,P, and O," as her additional letters to get more clues. With all the letters filled in, the bonus puzzle read, "ON T_E _ _ _E_O_.”
Right off the bat, it appeared that Puglisi had to guess an unusual phrase. As Seacrest set off the ten-second timer, the player looked visibly stumped. She tried to get the answer with guesses such as “On the Endzone,” “On the Ride out,” but none of them were correct. Once the time ran out, Seacrest revealed the answer was "ON THE JUKEBOX." Adding to the heartbreak, the host showed the contestant that she lost out on winning an additional $50,000 from her Golden Envelope.
While Puglisi was happy to walk home with over $23,000, fans took to the comments section of YouTube to express outrage. Many called the show unfair as they claimed that the phrase of the bonus puzzle was outdated. "If it was 1953 I would be disappointed in her and myself not getting it, when is the last time you heard the word Jukebox?" @streamofconsciousness5826 asked. "I've never heard of 'On The Jukebox' in my life, and I'm a sucker of 1970's and 1980's memorabilia," @lunamelody2025 mentioned.
Many called the puzzle a rip-off while trying to reason with it. "Ripoff puzzle. What kind of phrase is that? Whoever said that or heard of that in their lifetime, really?!?" @loveforeignaccents wrote. "That was tough!! Who would choose a j, k, or an x? If b, maybe a chance, but still tough!!" @pamelas.3023 suggested.
