'Wheel of Fortune' fans slam contestant who failed to solve easy bonus round puzzle worth $45,000
"Wheel of Fortune" fans are usually supportive of contestants who face difficult puzzles, but they're also quick to call out the ones who fail to figure out easy answers. One such player who fumbled an easy puzzle was Titus Stevens, who suffered a $45,000 loss in the bonus round. While he was happy to take home over $19,000, fans blasted his performance on social media.
Stevens was off to a rough start as his competitor named Cramer, won the first few Toss Up puzzles. While he gathered $6,650, Stevens trailed with just $2,500. However, Stevens mounted a comeback in the Express Round where he solved the puzzle, "Modeling My New Swimsuit," to win a trip to Hotel Azura in Costa Rica, worth $8,028, as per Andy Nguyen's blog. In the end, after cracking a couple more puzzles in the Triple Toss Up round, Stevens emerged as the big winner of the night with $19,828 in cash and prizes.
Advancing to the Bonus Round, he chose the category "What Are You Doing?" for the final puzzle and joined host Ryan Seacrest at the wheel. He brought along his wife, Dolores, who cheered him on from the stage. After spinning the wheel and picking out his golden envelope, Stevens was faced with a long four-word puzzle. With the show's standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, E" on the board, Stevens picked "B, C, D, and O" as his additional letters. With this, the puzzle read, " _ O _ N _ T O
C _ O _ R _ R _ C T _ C E."
Despite having several clues on the board, Stevens looked stumped when the host kicked off the ten-second timer, as he could not get three out of the four words in the puzzle. With only the last word figured out, he yelled out guesses like "Color," "Clear," and "Found," none of which fit. In the end, co-host Vanna White uncovered the answer to be, "Going to Choir Practice." Adding to the heartbreak, Seacrest then revealed that Stevens lost out on taking home an additional $45,000, which would have taken his total to nearly $65,000.
The player quickly shrugged off the disappointment. However, fans were as quick to express their opinion on social media. "C'mon NOW... EASY SOLVE," wrote @TheJohnny928 in the comments on YouTube. "$45,000 failed..." added another user @justinhall9231.
Many also blamed the contestant's letter picks as well. "If Titus had chosen an 'H, ' then he probably would've got the puzzle," explained @jacobwilson6192.
You can watch the contestant's performance here.
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