'Wheel of Fortune' contestants lose $40,000 after nearly solving a puzzle in unfortunate TV moment
"Wheel of Fortune" fans have seen a lot of disappointment this year when it comes to players in the bonus round, but they still hope to see more spectacular wins on the show. This is why they were left in disbelief when a pair of contestants lost $40,000 by a tiny margin. Hanna Chung and Laura Tarpley, who participated in the show's "Girlfriend Getaways" week, fought their way to the finale, only to be outdone by a puzzle with the answer, "Casual Activewear." Although the friends shrugged off their loss, fans couldn't believe how they lost after getting so close to cracking the puzzle.
The pair started the game on a winning note as Chung cracked the very first Toss Up puzzle. Going into the Mystery Round, Chung and Tarpley extended their lead by solving the prize puzzle to win a trip to the Pineapple Beach Club in Antigua, worth $8,460, according to Andy Nguen's blog. In the end, the pair emerged as the big winners of the night with a total of $20,460 in cash.
Advancing to the Bonus Round, Chung and Tarpley chose the "What are you wearing?" category for their final puzzle and joined the host, Ryan Seacrest, at the wheel. After spinning the wheel and picking out their Golden Envelope, the pair faced a long two-word puzzle on the board. With the show's standard letters "R, S, T, L, N, E," filled in, the two players discussed amongst themselves and chose "P, G, D, and A" as their additional letters. However, their choice of letters did not help, as they got only a series of the letter "A" on the board, with the puzzle reading, "_ A S _ A L A _ T _ _ E _ E A R."
Chung and Tarpley were clearly stumped when Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer. While they yelled out answers such as "Casual attire, and Casual attirewear," they couldn't get the correct answer. After co-host Vanna White revealed the answer to be "Casual Activewear," Seacrest added to the heartbreak by showing that the players had missed out on winning an additional $40,000.
While the friends and teammates smiled through the defeat, fans took to the comments section on YouTube to discuss the tricky puzzle. "Oh man! That was a tough one! I would've said the exact same thing," @nathangorman4600 shared. "Oh, no!! So close!!! Ugh!!!!" @EmilyMDong added.
Some even debated if they should've chosen different letters or if the puzzle was just too unfair. "I guess they chose 'P' because they thought pastel, but 'C' would have clinched it," @rsybing explained. "You guys are just trying too hard to fit words together just to make a category. Holy smokes. I get it, you don’t want the contestants to win, but geez, overkill much," @Sparky92891 suggested.
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