'Wheel of Fortune' fans are frustrated after contestant loses $55,000 — say 'this needs to stop'
Bonus Round winners are becoming few and far in between of late on the show.
Nov. 21 2025, Published 9:35 a.m. ET
"Wheel of Fortune" fans may have seen a million-dollar win recently, but that does not make up for the disappointingly high number of losses in the bonus round. In another frustrating moment, one contestant missed out on winning a significant amount of money, and fans were not happy about it.
The contestant was a man named Zack, who had done a great job to win $26,740 leading up to the final round. He had his mother, Ellen, and boyfriend Stephen on stage, cheering him on.
Once the introductions were done, it was time to play the game. Zack gave the wheel a good spin, and it landed on the I. The contestant had chosen the ‘Phrase’ category and, as per the rules of the show, was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. These letters only uncovered three spots in the puzzle. Zack then had a chance to pick three more consonants and one more vowel.
He went with the letters M, C, P, and A. Unfortunately, these were not the best choices, as only a couple more places were revealed in the puzzle. It now read, “___ _A_E T_ __C_S.” This one was tricky to get right, but Zack did his best either way. “Game to focus. Big game. Big game to focus. Big wave to focus,” he said. However, neither of those answers was correct.
The answer to the puzzle was then revealed as, “You have to focus.” It was a lot simpler than what the contestant was thinking, but he was not too far off. A better choice of letters would have helped him win the round. Host Ryan Seacrest then opened up the envelope to reveal that Zack had lost out on $55,000. The contestant was not upset about it as he had won a lot of money already.
Fans of the show, however, were less thrilled about the result. They expressed their feelings in the comments on YouTube. “$55,000 missed. This needs to stop tomorrow,” one fan commented. “The frustration in the bonus round continues to grow, 1 winner in 9 shows, and a week and a half with just one winner in that span, but that winner did win a Toyota. But not been a kind week and a half when it comes to the bonus round,” one more added. “That was a tough puzzle. Hope someone wins tomorrow night,” a viewer wrote.
Witness the disappointing moments in the video here.
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