‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans left seriously unimpressed as contestant loses $40K over ‘nasty’ puzzle
'Wheel of Fortune' has been a household name for decades now. However, in recent months, fans of the show have voiced serious doubts, claiming the show deliberately makes the Bonus Round puzzle ridiculously hard. This comes as several contestants with flawless performances in earlier rounds suddenly stumbled with the final puzzle, missing out on the grand prize. Such was the case with contestant Matt Harris. In September 2024, contestant Harris from Indianapolis competed with Caitlin Sterchi from Yorkville and Marilu Banal from Plainfield.
Despite having a rough start in the Toss-Up round, Harris took the lead in the Mystery round, solving the puzzle 'BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE', earning $15,490 in cash and a trip to Greece worth $13,590. He also won the triple toss-up round and ended up winning a total of $29,990 while Sterchi remained on $10,419 and Banal won $8,650, as per Market Realist. Subsequently, Harris entered the Bonus round and picked the golden envelope, choosing the category 'What are you doing?' The puzzle appeared with the standard letters 'R, S, T, L, N, and E' filled in. Harris chose 'C, H, I, and M' for his additional 3 consonants and a vowel, and the puzzle read, '_ _ _ _ L _ N G _ _ T _ E _ _ _ T E _ E N T.'
As the timer started ticking, Harris made a few attempts: "I'm buckling with excitement," "folding with excitement," "patting with excitement," but none of them were correct. When the time ran out, host Ryan Seacrest said, "You don't want to see it," as he revealed the correct answer to be "Bubbling with excitement." Seacrest opened the golden envelope and shared that Harris had lost out on an additional $40,000. "It was so close," Seacrest said, trying to console Harris. Though Harris walked out of the show with a hefty amount and a luxury vacation, fans weren't as happy.
After the episode aired, fans of the show took to the YouTube comment section and slammed the show for intentionally rigging the Bonus Round. They argued that the overly difficult puzzles are a calculated move to sabotage contestants' chances of winning big. Noting the pattern, an eagle-eyed viewer penned, "1/4 in Bonus Land this week... these bonus G's are tripping up contestants as they're making the puzzles tough this week to save budget. Did they blow the wad on the new set?" Commenting on the format of the show, a netizen added, "Second person to pick 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING' this week...only to get burned by a nasty puzzle. Interesting, we had a combination of 'WHAT ARE YOU WEARING/PHRASE/WHAT ARE YOU DOING' for the Bonus Land list this taping, and 'THING' [category] takes a vacation." Another 'Wheel of Fortune' viewer remarked, "'Bubbling'? Who the heck says 'Bubbling with excitement?'"
On a Reddit thread, fans echoed the same sentiments. A viewer wrote, "They had too many wins and can’t afford any more. Don’t be surprised if we get no more wins in the remainder of the season." Another Redditor added, "I agree that they are far more challenging recently... I'm also guessing it's an intentional step to make the final round more difficult, kind of like how 'Final Jeopardy' is supposed to be more difficult."
