'Wheel of Fortune' contestant ends up with $68,000 — all because the rival made the 'worst' mistake

Game shows such as "Wheel of Fortune" are places where people get lucky and walk away with life-changing amounts in a single night. But while they encourage people to dream, sometimes those are shattered by a single blunder. This was clear during one of the final episodes of the show for 2024. The three contestants battling it out were Mike Tomani from Rochester, New York, Gaelyn Nease from Tallahassee, Florida, and Carmetta Wells, from Los Angeles, California as per TV Insider.

Tomani started the game strong, amassing $17,700 by the end of the Mystery Round while Nease and Wells had $2000 and $1000 each. However, the Express Round saw the leader stall which gave the chance to one of his competitors to make a comeback. The puzzle on the screen read  “NE _ / _ OR _ / _ HEESE _ A _ E” and Nease seemed to be the one to give the correct answer.

However, instead of “New York Cheesecake”, she said “New York Cheesesteak.” This was utterly shocking and Wells, who probably was not expecting to get a chance, guessed the answer correctly, winning a trip to the Conrad New York Downtown and a Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest VIP experience worth $8,000.

Fans simply could not believe what they had seen and they made their opinions clear. In a clip of the incident posted on X (formerly Twitter), the comments section was filled with people completely shocked. “I was watching. Worst I’ve ever seen “live” on TV. What a nerd,” a user @nerdherdin commented.

For Wells though, that was just the starting point to what turned out to be a memorable night. She correctly answered every puzzle in the Triple Toss-Up Round to have a total purse of $28,250. And then came the Bonus Round. She selected the Phrase category and after guessing the four-word puzzle correctly, won $40,000. That brought her total winnings of the night close to an incredible $70,000.

Although Nease’s wrong answer that cost her was questionable, there have been worse answers given on the show. In a 2023 episode of the show, a contestant named Jessica Washington was faced with what looked like a simple puzzle in the What Are You Doing category. There was only one letter missing at this point as the screen read “DINING IN THE DINING _AR.” The obvious guess for the last word was “car” but Washington guessed “jar” instead, which had left fans amused and stunned. Fans took to X to express their disbelief. “Imagine saying “Dining in the dining Jar” on national TV,” a user with the ID @Shanassty tweeted. However, the contestant later on revealed that she was happy with her experience.

She had been a fan of the show since she was a three-year-old and being on it was like a dream come true. And despite the blunder, Washington still managed to walk away with a well-deserved $4000.