'Wheel of Fortune' fans blame tough puzzle as another contestant loses $40,000 in bonus round
"Wheel of Fortune" has for decades been a ray of hope for viewers who someday aspire to compete on a game show and win big to change their lives. But fans have been disappointed for the past few weeks as contestants faced a string of losses, and they blamed it on puzzles that were too tough. After the show narrowly avoided a devastating streak of 20 losses, another contestant named Kylene Foster lost out on winning an additional $40,000 in the Bonus Round. The player who performed exceptionally well through the initial rounds failed to guess the unusual puzzle "Boring Old", triggering outrage among fans on social media.
After a bumpy start, Foster took the lead by solving a couple of puzzles that gave her $3,450. In the Mystery Round, her two competitors landed on the Bankrupt wedge, and Foster picked up the pieces by solving the puzzle “Periodic & Ping-Ping Table” to win a total of $6,150. She then went on to solve a few more puzzles to win a trip to the Canadian Rockies and ended up as the winner of the episode with $20,950.
Going into the Bonus Round, Foster chose the category, "What are you doing?" and she was joined by her 17-year-old son, Riley, who was celebrating his birthday. She then spun the wheel alongside and picked out her Golden Envelope that could win her up to $100,000. She was faced with a two-word puzzle, and with the show's standard letters "R, S, T, L, N, E," filled in, she chose “C, H, B, and O" as her additional letters. Even with this, the puzzle read, “_O_ _N_ O_ _.”
Foster tried her best to solve the puzzle, and her guesses were “Boxing Old,” "Boring Old,” and so on after Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer. Unfortunately, the player could not get the answer in time, and the answer was revealed to be "Boring Old." To add to the heartbreak, Seacrest revealed that Foster lost $40,000 in the round.
While the player seemed to be happy with what she got to keep despite the loss, fans did not take it that well. Several viewers took to the comments section of the show's YouTube clip. Fans complained that the show is using increasingly tough puzzles for the Bonus Round, costing contestants a lot of money. "This rough, rough, rough stretch continues to grow. 21 out of 23 shows, all with loss, after loss, after loss. Wheel Of Fortune rotten, rotten, stretch won't stop," @dannyblock-e4d wrote.
Some suggested that Foster was particularly unlucky as she got a bad puzzle to work with. "Kylene had the RAW DEAL list. Kylene, picking WHAT ARE YOU DOING...was a bad decision. Good, you didn't pick the G or I, BUT this was very tough. The O was a good pick though but not enough," @richardhernandez4490 suggested.
While contestants of the Wheel are losing out, the show's host is minting money. Recently, it was reported that Seacrest was making more than most of his colleagues, all thanks to his gig at "American Idol."
