‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant loses $75K after wild guesses — fans think it's 'the worst solve ever'
‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant Phoebe Huynh didn’t flinch while guessing her Bonus Round puzzle, despite being nowhere close to the correct answer. The Portland native had luck on her side throughout the game, but a hiccup in the last round cost her $75,000. Huynh defeated her opponents in the previous round by having a total tally of $19,200, but unfortunately, things fell apart in the following round. Huynh had chosen the category 'Food and Drink' for the Bonus Round and was presented with a puzzle. She got a chance to add three consonants and a vowel, and she chose: 'D, P, H, and O.' The two-word puzzle she was presented with was: '_ _ N D _ E D / _ R _ _ T.'
Ryan Seacrest even suggested she think carefully, as it seemed like a less tough guess. “Ok, well, think about this. You had a great night so far. Sound it out,” the host said to the contestant before starting the 10-second timer. As soon as the timer began, Huynh went completely off the rails with her guess. “Sun Dried Grape,” she guessed at first, which was followed by “Sun Dried Bird” and then “Cats?” The contestant didn’t look at the clues enough to figure out that the puzzle spelled “Candied Fruit.” When Seacrest revealed the answer, she defended her horribly wrong guess, saying, “Well, I don’t eat candied fruit.”
The greatest wrong answer in “Wheel of Fortune” history (and maybe game show history, period) pic.twitter.com/lDhaBadjmv
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) May 24, 2024
The host was quick to quip, “Do you eat sun-dried birds?” to which she replied, “No, I’m a vegetarian” before the duo hugged it out. Huynh appeared pretty upset with the results, more so after finding out the amount at stake. “No, I don’t wanna look,” she flinched as Seacrest went to open the envelope to reveal the cash prize she could have won. “I looked already,” she added, and the crowd sighed after the reveal. Although it was an unfortunate turn of events for Huynh, the fans didn’t have any mercy while trolling her over her bizarre guesses.
“Truly the craziest bonus round I’ve watched live... ‘I don’t eat candied fruit!’ was the cherry on top,” a Reddit user wrote. “Not sundried birds,” an X (formerly Twitter) user echoed, as per TV Insider. “Sundried cats? Has anyone ever had sundried cat before?” another slammed. “How shocked would he have been if she’d said, 'Yes, I eat candied birds!’” a fourth netizen quipped. “Did it ever occur to her that SUNDRIED wouldn’t fit? Plus ‘S’ was already part of the initial letters? Apparently not,” another upset fan pointed out.
“The worst solve ever,” another fan wrote. “Omg I couldn't believe she didn't know it!!” a YouTube user chimed under the official video. “I was yelling at the TV, she didn't hear me!!” added an exasperated viewer. Others, however, found the contestant’s goofiness adorable. “I thought she was darling when she seemed to completely forget she got the $10,000 wedge. And then the ‘no I’m vegetarian’ was hilarious,” a Reddit user wrote. “She was really adorable,” a comment also read.
