Ryan Seacrest, the host of Wheel of Fortune, got confused when one player made a mistake in the bonus round.
On the November 18 episode, Joey Sweet, a program director from Oceanside, California, came extremely close to winning $40,000. The category was “phrase,” and Sweet was almost done with the issue when he made his estimate.
When Sweet picked the letters C, D, M, and A, as well as the letter “F” from his Wild Card, the puzzle showed the words “CA_ED’ ‘_” AND.” The young contestant’s first choice, “Cleared in hand,” seemed like a good one, but the clock ran out before they could find the proper one. But the solution was “Carved By Hand,” which was a tough one that made both Sweet and the viewers mad.
Vanna White, who was looking forward to the reveal, was upset that the guess was wrong. Seacrest, who has been presenting the show since 2021, was quick to offer comfort. “You were heading the right way. He told Sweet right away, “This is a tough one.” He then opened the gold prize card to demonstrate that Sweet had lost out on $40,000, but Seacrest didn’t stop there. “That’s a tough one,” he observed, “even with the head start,” referring to Sweet’s Wild Card wedge.
Even though he didn’t win the big reward, Sweet was nice and positive. “It’s okay!” he responded, letting the crowd know that the hard puzzle didn’t concern him. He won a prize package worth more than $16,000 in cash and a trip to Mexico, which was a great consolation gift.
A video of the game that revealed the bizarre event quickly went viral on YouTube. People that liked the puzzle used the comments section to say how hard it was. “I don’t think I could have figured that out if I hadn’t picked the right letters.” One viewer said that was a hard one. Another fan said that the word “By” is always hard to guess during the bonus round, and a lot of other people agreed. People kept posting on social media. Someone on X (formerly Twitter) said, “To be fair, ‘By’ is a hard word to think of when you think of 2-letter words on Wheel.” #WheelOfFortune
This mistake came after another viral event from the week before, when Connecticut police officer Will Jordan made waves with his bold guess: “Treat yourself to a round of sausages.” The right response was “Give yourself a round of applause.” People are talking about these amusing mistakes online, and one thing is for sure: Wheel of Fortune always has surprises in store.
