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‘Wheel of Fortune’ player bombs Bonus Round — but makes a jaw-dropping $44K comeback anyway

After a massive final-round slip, a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant still walked away with $44K — and fans are stunned

'Wheel of Fortune' fans believe that a contestant's simple mistake cost him a whopping $40,000. Despite that, the contestant was able to make an impressive comeback on the show, and he still went home with $44,000. During an episode of 'Wheel of Fortune' Season 42, which saw the light of day on May 19, Benjamin Hunter, from Smyrna, Delaware, competed against Chelsea Speights, from Johns Island, South Carolina, and Robert Blomker, from Apple Valley, California. All three contestants started the Paradise Week, where they had a chance to win a new home. Speights, who is a vice principal, kicked off the game by solving both of the toss-ups, taking the lead with $3,000.

Soon after, while solving the first puzzle, Speights landed on Bankrupt, but her guesses worked, and she solved the puzzle for $5,000. Then, Blomker took the lead when he landed on $3,500 during the second puzzle and got two “S’s” from it. Eventually, Blomker retained the Wild Card and wrapped up the round with $9,350. While solving the Prize Puzzle, Blomker landed on the $1 million wedge, but things took a turn when he landed on Bankrupt. Blomker had the chance to ride the express train and solve the puzzle, but he ended up guessing the wrong letter, and he went Bankrupt after having $5,200 in his bank. At that point, Speights made the correct guess, “Practicing Yoga on the Beach,” and she won a trip to St.Thomas.

Following that, Thomas solved one toss-up for $2,000. In the final puzzle, Thomas landed on $5,000, making each letter in that puzzle worth $6,000 after 'Wheel of Fortune' added $1,000 to the total. Hunter solved two “R’s,” three “S’s,” and two “C’s," and he cracked “Surprising Conclusion," taking his total to $44,000. As per TV Insider, Ryan Seacrest said, “Benjamin, come here! Look at you! Coming into the end there, you’ve got no money. Then that one tossup, and then all of a sudden $44,000. I love this show so much. The way you can come back like that.” Blomker went home with  $11,350; meanwhile, Speights was left with $17,383. Then, Hunter moved on to the Bonus Round.

During the Bonus Round, Hunter picked "Person." After Wheel of Fortune gave Hunter “R, S, T, L, N, and E,” he selected “G, C, M, and I," and the puzzle looked like “_ _M_ _S  S_ _R_N_.” Hunter felt that the last word of the puzzle was "Sporting," but sadly, he failed to guess the full puzzle. After the big loss during the Bonus Round, Hunter jokingly said, "I'm a bass," to which Seacrest responded, "I understand."

Once the episode dropped, many fans stated that Hunter shouldn't have picked "Person" for the category. A Reddit user asked, “Why do people pick person as a bonus round category? Always pick phrase if it is available. Still, what a comeback that was. So great to see him pull in all that cash!!! Ryan’s enthusiasm was great to see, too." Another user quipped, “I ask this every time they do it. I think that a lot of the contestants are not big fans of the show and don’t think about it like many of us do." A third user went on to say, "Never ever pick ‘person.'”