After Ryan Seacrest overheard their whispers, ‘Wheel of Fortune’ duo lost $75K — and he made it sting
Ryan Seacrest teased the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestants for whispering during the Bonus Round. However, their discussion didn't help them much, as they ended up losing a whopping $75,000 in the Bonus Round. During an October 2024 episode of 'Wheel of Fortune' titled 'Girlfriend Getaways,' Kelli Mullen and Emma Paulson, from Minnesota, played in a rare pairs game. The episode re-aired on July 22 as part of the show’s summer reruns. In the episode, Mullen and Paulson, two best friends who met in sixth grade, competed against Kayley Tierney and Caitlyn Brehm, from New York, and Tina Freeman and Nicolle Royals.
At the end of the game, Mullen and Paulson rose to the top of the leaderboard with a total of $19,530 in winnings. They also won a trip to Barbados and advanced to the Bonus Round. When the host, Seacrest, asked the two besties to pick a category for their Bonus Round puzzle, they chose “What Are You Doing?” With the show's standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, E," filled in, they picked three consonants and a vowel.
Mullen and Paulson whispered as they debated their letter choices. According to TV Insider, Mullen asked Paulson, "C," to which the latter agreed. Soon after, they screamed the letter loudly. Following that, Mullen and Paulson whispered again to finalize their second letter, which turned out to be "D." When it came to the third letter, Seacrest told the contestants, “I can hear you!” Soon after, the two ladies burst into laughter and said, "F."
As Mullen and Paulson picked their vowel, Seacrest quipped, "A. I heard you.” With everything on the board, their final puzzle looked like "A_ _L_ _N_ _ _SELF.” As soon as Seacrest began the ten-second timer, it seemed like Mullen and Paulson were stumped. At that point, Seacrest said, “You needed a little bit more up there." At last, Seacrest's co-host Vanna White revealed that the answer was "Applying Myself." Seacrest revealed they missed out on $75,000, which would’ve brought their total to $94,530.
Once the episode dropped, many fans of the show shared their honest thoughts on Seacrest's funny interaction with the 'Wheel of Fortune' players. One social media user stopped by the comments section and wrote, “I like how Ryan says, ‘I can hear you,’ when they’re whispering lol." Followed by a second fan who penned, "Ouch! $75,000. 2nd biggest prize in the bonus round loss besides the million. But they still won $19,530!” Another netizen remarked, “They were too busy whispering; they should've gotten it right on the spot instead of whispering too much during the bonus round, especially when there's an A up there." A fan shed light on the final puzzle and commented, "This is a commonly used phrase in the tortoise and the hare. The a was a good pick."
