‘Wheel of Fortune’ player freezes in disbelief after seeing the massive prize she lost over an easy puzzle
‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans never let a mistake go by, whether it was made by the production or players. Sometimes puzzles are unnecessarily tough for players to guess; other times, it’s the opposite. Shanquetta Cato reached the Bonus Round of the game show and missed out on winning a massive prize. But instead of empathising with the contestant, fans turned the heat on her, slamming her for missing an easy solve. Cato aced the previous rounds and upped her total to $30,000. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on her side during the final round, which is considered a game-changer on the show. She missed out on winning an additional $100K over a wrong guess, but fans are pissed at her.
In the first few rounds, not only did she win a cash amount, but also a trip to Costa Rica worth $9,600. In the follow-up Mystery Round, she won another trip, this time to the Verandah Resort & Spa in Antigua, worth $8,687, as per Andy Nguyen's blog. In the final round, she chose the category phrase and was presented with a pretty easy puzzle, "_ O _ G O T L _ _ _ _." This puzzle was formed after the "R, S, T, L, N, E," and Cato’s selected letters "B, G, H, and O,” were filled out. When host Ryan Seacrest started the 10-second timer, she tried spelling out the phrase and was completely off the mark.
She was stuck at “You Got” and couldn’t guess the third word. After the timer ran out, host Vanna White unveiled the puzzle that read: “You Got Lucky.” The reveal made everyone in the audience sigh with disappointment, and Cato herself wasn’t ecstatic. The disappointment doubled when Seacrest unveiled the $100K reward that she could have won. The contestant kept her palms on her forehead and walked a few steps ahead out of shock. “I almost didn’t wanna show you,” he said. Nevertheless, she still got to take $27,287 home and had to make her peace with it.
But little did Cato know that the audience would take her loss harder than she did. “I literally solved it myself! That was child's play for me!” one fan commented under the YouTube video of Cato’s Bonus Round. “I legit was able to solve that puzzle before the timer ran out. I guess she ain't got lucky,” another social media user wrote. “Ironically, she wasn't so lucky and missed out on $100,000,” a third fan mockingly added. Many people pointed out how this was a second major loss on the show. “I am raging right now! First, a million-dollar loss, now, a $100,000 loss?! I'm crashing out!” an angry fan added.
“Now THAT was an unlucky loss back-to-back weeks! This is also the first $100,000 loss in the Ryan era!” another fan commented. “First a million loss, now a frickin 100k loss what the frick,” one internet user added. “Are you kidding me...First a Million Dollar loss, AND NOW A $100,000 LOSS?!?!? I'm sad, right now,” another fan seconded the consecutive unlucky streak on ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ “Unbelievable, ‘you got lucky,’ I say, ‘she got unlucky.’ first $100.000 loser in Ryan Seacrest era,” another social media fan wrote.