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Ryan Seacrest ignores nurse’s major pronunciation flub on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ — but we definitely noticed

Alicia Sagle's goof-up has fans divided—should Ryan Seacrest have caught it or was he right to let it slide?

‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans can’t believe host Ryan Seacrest did nothing about this mispronunciation blunder! Contestant Alicia Sagle, a school nurse and fitness instructor from Red Wing, Minnesota, was the one who made the fumble, and Seacrest merely let it slide. Fans are debating whether it was right to award the contestant, even though she was awfully bad at pronouncing the Texas city, Lubbock. During the first round’s 'On The Map' category, Sagle had control over the wheel and decided to solve the puzzle, which read “Dallas, Houston, and Lubbock, Texas.”

However, she messed up pronouncing the last city, calling it “Loo-bock” rather than “Lubbock.” Despite the fumble, Seacrest passed it as the correct answer and awarded Sagle $1,900. Since the mispronunciation was not pointed out at the moment, the contestant went ahead in the game, earning scrumptious cash prizes and a trip to New York City. She eventually had a total tally of $22,020 in cash and went ahead for the Bonus Round. Even though she didn’t ace her Bonus Round and lost an additional $40,000, fans couldn’t hide their frustration over the mispronunciation of Lubbock.

“I would not have accepted [sic] that mangling of Lubbock, Wheel of Fortune,” an X user wrote. “Yeah, not acceptable,” another fan agreed, per TV Insider. “Stormed out of the room when Ryan Seacrest accepted ‘LOO-BACH’ for Lubbock, Texas on Wheel of Fortune,” a third added. “Lue-Bock vs. Lubbock. Who pronounces it which way? Let yourselves be known,” another social media user wrote. Meanwhile, the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Reddit forum prompted the same discussion, and fans unanimously voted that Seacrest should not have accepted the answer. 

“I was surprised they gave her that puzzle on tonight’s episode. In the past, they wouldn’t give credit for incorrect pronunciation. The Kelly Ripa puzzle from years ago come to mind,” a Reddit user wrote. “I was at the taping and knew there would be some controversy immediately after it happened,” another fan claimed. “As a Texan, I agree. Lol,” a third social media user wrote. “I feel like she should not have gotten credit for totally mispronouncing it,” another viewer said. One internet user pointed out that Seacrest has a lenient way of conducting the show, compared to veteran host Pat Sajak.

“I think the Ryan era is far more forgiving in that regard, and they should be. She knew the word; she should get the win. Wife never heard of Lubbock Tx either before last night,” the same user explained. One fan supported Seacrest's verdict, claiming that the New York native probably never heard of the city, but she shouldn’t be deprived of the cash prize because of that. “It was a shitty puzzle and I’m glad she got credit for it,” another Reddit user wrote. “I wonder if they knew they would get called out for it again and just decided to avoid that,” one speculated. “I'm curious if they would have taken ‘House-ton’ (NY street pronunciation) for Houston,” a netizen joked.