‘Wheel of Fortune’ player loses $67K over one wrong guess — but his reaction had fans cheering anyway
A 'Wheel of Fortune' contestant ran out of luck during the Bonus Round when none of the letters he chose appeared on the puzzle board, and unfortunately, he missed out on a whopping $67,000. During an episode of 'Wheel of Fortune' which was released in September 2024, Clayton Charles, from Bourbonnais, Illinois, competed against Jess Brady, from Loves Park, Illinois, and Erica Jason, from Aubrey, Texas. Charles kicked off the game after getting some advice from host Ryan Seacrest to earn more money. During the Prize Puzzle, Charles was behind Brady by a couple of thousand.
However, things took a turn when Charles landed on the Express $1,000 tile. At that point in time, Charles decided to “ride the train” and kept guessing for $1,000 a letter until he could solve the puzzle or lose it all. Later on, the clue in that particular category was revealed to be “Traditional Tea Ceremony." Ultimately, Charles managed to solve the puzzle when just a few consonants were remaining.
According to TV Insider, Seacrest asked Charles, “Are you sure you don’t want more cash? Hurry!” Soon after, Charles inserted two more letters on the board, which doubled his total. When Seacrest cut for a commercial break, Seacrest reached out to Charles and told him, “Man, I just wanted to make sure you got as much as you could." On the other hand, Charles was keen on making more money. During the Bonus Round, Charles ended up losing an additional $40,000. At the end of the episode, Charles walked away with $27,548 and a trip to Japan; meanwhile, Jason was left with $1,000, and Brady went home with $19,500.
In the Bonus Round, Charles picked “Around the House” for the category. After 'Wheel of Fortune' gave Charles, “R, S, T, L, N, and E," he selected “C, K, D, and A” to round out his puzzle. However, none of the letters picked by Charles were in the puzzle. At last, the puzzle looked like “_L_ _ER _ _ _ES.” As the timer ticked down, Charles guessed, "Blower." The right answer to the puzzle was “Flower Boxes.” Then, Seacrest quipped, "I think you needed a head start there." Regardless of losing $67k on 'Wheel of Fortune', Seacrest told Charles to stand tall because he still won $27,548 and a trip to Japan.
Once the episode dropped, the fans of the show shared their honest thoughts on Charles' Bonus Round puzzle. One social media user stopped by the comments section and wrote, “I would not have gotten that. Flower Boxes are an old-school house staple, but I wouldn’t have thought that first." Followed by a second user who penned, "I thought of flower vases, but not flower boxes." Another user remarked, "It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Flower Box. I figured out 'Flower.' But I at first thought it was 'Flower Vases' (yes, I know, it couldn’t be because of the 2nd s)." One fan commented, "I have never, ever used the term "flower boxes." They're window boxes or planters." Another netizen went on to say, "That puzzle was designed to be a loss."