'Wheel of Fortune' contestant loses $50,000 after coming up with answer that amused Ryan Seacrest
Jan. 21 2026, Updated 9:58 p.m. ET
"Wheel of Fortune" often leaves contestants dumbfounded by its tricky Bonus Round puzzles, while fans are left disappointed. It happened in yet another episode, when a player named Reginald lost $50,000 after failing to guess a "Phrase" based puzzle. He tried hard to guess the correct answer but ultimately walked home with $24,626 and a trip to the Bahamas.
Reginald solved the second puzzle and guessed the answer "Sherlock Holmes" during the Toss-Up Rounds and made a decent start. He struck gold again by solving the third puzzle to guess "Defense Attorney". Reginald continued with his winning streak in the first main round, including a trip to the Bahamas, for solving "Charming, Chipper, and Cheerful". He then solved "The heart wants what it wants"during the mystery round and qualified his entry into the bonus round with a total of $24,626 in cash.
Reginald's cousin, Ron, and his mother, Joelle, were cheering him on from the audience. Ryan Seacrest, the host, shared a light-hearted moment with Reginald's mother about his work as a beer salesman. "Joelle, have you ever bought a beer from your son at a game?" Seacrest joked. "Never did. I don't drink beer," Joelle instantly replied. The player then chose the "Phrase" category and was given the standard letters "R, S, L, N, T, and E." He then selected "D, C, M, and A." The puzzle board then diplayed "_, E, _, A, _, E, A, _, R, _, E, _, L, A, _, _, _, E, R."
With the letters that were revealed, he attempted to solve the puzzle, first guessing "We have a green lager", which amused Seacrest because it is a beer brand. Reginald couldn't guess "We have a brief layover", which was the correct answer. He did not win the bonus cash of $50,000, but still earned $24,626 and an exotic trip to the Bahamas. Fans were left distraught once again. "Before the "A", the only choice was 'WE HAVE A GREEN LOBSTER,'" a user @RockOnRussell pointed out. "No 50k winner. The B or the F should be helpful. Speaking of brief layovers I have one coming up in Taipei," another user @Animegamespublishing complained.
"Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten that 1," @theweysermanisback5205 chimed in. "$50,000... Failed. And gone... Losing streaks need to stop," @justinhall9231 added. "Failed to tell that WE HAVE A BRIEF LAYOVER??!!!" @michaelandrewdcguevarra complained.
You can watch the disappointing moment here.
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