'Wheel of Fortune' contestant loses out on car — fans claim she was given tough puzzle on purpose
The seemingly tough puzzle cost contestant, Kelly Amodio a brand new Mini Cooper.
Oct. 21 2025, Published 9:45 a.m. ET
"Wheel of Fortune" fans have called out the high difficulty levels that contestants usually crash out against in the bonus round. They were once again outraged after another contestant, Kelly Amodio, lost out on driving home a brand new Mini Cooper car. She was stunned when her choice of letters left her with only one clue on the board. While most fans blamed the puzzle, some even claimed that the producers were making contestants lose on purpose due to cut down the budget.
The player got off to a rough start after her competitor solved the first Toss Up puzzle to take the early lead. Amodio then gained the lead in the Express Round after winning a trip to St. Pete-Clearwater, which took her total to $23,230. In the Triple Toss Up round, she got two out of the three puzzles right to emerge as the big winner of the night with $33,830.
Advancing to the Bonus Round, Amodio chose the category "What Are You Doing?" for her final puzzle. With the show's standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, E," on the board, she chose “C, M, P, and A” as her additional letters. However, that only gave her one more letter on the board as her puzzle read, “_ _ _ _N_ T_ T_E _ _ _ _CE.”
When the host kicked off the ten-second timer, it was clear that Amodio was stumped. While she tried to speak it out, saying, “Walking to the Place,” and “Walking to the," she admitted that she had no idea. Once the time ran out, White uncovered the answer, "Biking To The Office". "I don’t think you were going that direction with it,” Seacrest said before revealing that Amodio lost out on a Mini Cooper.
While the contestant smiled her way through the tough loss, fans expressed their outrage on social media. "Without guessing the right letters, this was a super tough puzzle," one fan, @douglaspinsak1246, wrote in the comments on YouTube. "Cooper failed with some difficulties of it due to the budget saving mode entered, after we given away a million dollars recently, this time interestingly the I would've helped fight chance. The category was not recommended to call G or the I normally," added another fan, @robertclimate1563.
"Kelly was dealt the Raw Deal list, and unfortunately her pick of WHAT ARE YOU DOING was a real bad one. The puzzle writers picked this category as the LANDMINE. This puzzle screamed LOSS on the onset. F, B, K, I needed. I'm glad she didn't pick the G or H, but the C pick was a wasted letter pick," explained a viewer named @richardhernandez4490.
You can watch the full video here.
More on Market Realist: