'Wheel of Fortune' contestant misses out on $40,000 after failing to solve easy bonus round puzzle
Fans have been complaining about the losing streak by contestants on "Wheel of Fortune," which has even triggered speculation about the show's producers running out of funds. In a matter of weeks, about 18 contestant lost out on their Bonus puzzle in a row. A contestant named Aleeza Santillan became the 19th player to lose in the round after failing to figure out the puzzle "Neighborhood Pharmacy" for $40,000. After her loss, the show was on the verge of its longest ever losing streak of 20 games.
She was off to a flying start after solving the first puzzle to win $1,000. In the end, she won the episode with a total of $15,420 in cash and a trip to Cape Cod. She then advanced to the Bonus Round, where she was joined by her parents on stage.
After they wished her good luck, Santillan picked the "Place Category. She spun the wheel and picked out her Bonus Golden Envelope. With a chance to win up to $100,000 or a new home, the player faced a long two-word puzzle. With the show's standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, E" filled in, Santillan chose the additional letters “D, M, C, and O," to get the extra clues. With everything filled in, the final puzzle for her read, “N E _ _ _ _ O R _ O O D _ _ _ R M _ C _.”
Despite getting a good number of letters on the board, the player looked stumped as she took on the puzzle. As soon as Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, she tried her best but failed to get the second word. In the end, the host revealed that the answer was "NEIGHBORHOOD PHARMACY."
To add to her disappointment, Seacrest revealed that she missed out on winning an additional $40,000 from her golden envelope, which would have taken her total to more than $54,000. With this, the show came one step closer to the losing streak record of 20 games that was set in Season 36. While the player was disappointed, viewers were outraged to see another contestant lose. "Another loss.. 19 in total. One more week. Let's end this month," @Animegamespublishing wrote. "CAN WE FILE A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE LOSING STREAK, NOW?!" @zaidarodriguez8455 added.
However, to everyone's delight, the losing streak did come to an end as the recent winner on the show, Rachel Granier, finally solved her Bonus Round puzzle. In her game, she too faced a difficult three-word puzzle, but Granier knew the first part was “YOUR JOURNEY” right off the bat.
With some thinking, she got the third word right to win an additional $40,000. Thus, fans are now elated that the show under the new host narrowly missed out on setting an unpleasant record.
While this was a record that Seacrest may have wanted to dodge, he is reportedly eyeing a positive record on "American Idol." The star, who has been the host of the show since the first season, recently expressed that he has no plans to leave the show anytime soon. This means he could possibly set the record as the longest-serving host of two shows.
