'Wheel of Fortune' player fumbles easy puzzle worth $45,000 — fans say 'her brain turned off'

"Wheel of Fortune" fans are sympathetic towards contestants who lose out on big prizes due to tricky puzzles or those that are impossible to solve. But they don't spare players who fumble during easy games at important stages. The fans were quick to pull up a player who suffered a frustrating $66,000 loss after she couldn't crack a seemingly easy Bonus Round puzzle. Linda Rivera fought her way to the finale, collecting over $26,000 along the way. However, in the end, she was stumped by a simple phrase, "Mixing Things Up," despite getting plenty of clues on the board. While the player was disappointed,  fans were frustrated as they took to social media to express their outrage.

Rivera got off to a flying start, as she solved the first Toss Up puzzle to take the early lead. However, a competitor, Packo, mounted a comeback in the Mystery Round, winning  $9,300 to snatch the lead. Rivera then fought back in the Express Round, where she cracked the prize puzzle to win a trip to Amsterdam Manor in Aruba worth $9,376 and $8,500 in cash, as per Andy Nguyen's blog.

Moving forward, she kept the winning momentum up by getting another puzzle in the Triple Toss Up round. In the end, she emerged as the big winner with $26,026, while Packo finished in second with $11,300. Advancing to the Bonus Round, she chose the “What Are You Doing” category for her final puzzle. 

Joining host Ryan Seacrest at the wheel, Rivera brought along her husband, Mickey, on the stage for support. After spinning the wheel and picking out her Golden Envelope, she faced a three-word puzzle on the board. With the show's standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, E," filled in, she went on to pick “M, B, C, and I” as her additional letters. Her chosen letters turned out to be right on the money as her puzzle read, “M I _ I N _ T _ I N _ S      _ _.”

While the puzzle seemed easy, when Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, Rivera seemed to be struggling. She almost got the answer right as she said, "Mix something up," before losing track completely. She then kept trying to guess the first word, saying things like “mining,” “missing,” and “messing," but none of them were correct. Once the timer ran out, co-host Vanna White revealed the answer, “Mixing Things Up.” Seacrest then went on to add to the heartbreak as he flipped the prize envelope to show Rivera that she lost out on taking home an additional $45,000. “You were right there,” Seacrest said in the end.

While the contestant shrugged off the loss with a smile, fans took to social media to share their reactions to the painful loss. "She nearly had it - but her brain turned off," wrote one fan, @digiblader1, in the comments of the show's YouTube clip.

"This was so painful to watch. She might be the only contestant to say all the words and not get it. Still a winner though, so congrats!" added @evelyn.embers. "This is gonna be, that was solvable, of course. But come on... she was just a little nervous with the lights!" one fan @robertclimate1563 wrote, defending Rivera. 

Watch the video here.

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