More ‘Wheel of Fortune’ backlash over technicality: ‘Frozen’ out
“Wheel of Fortune” has another screw-up down for the books.
On Wednesday evening’s episode, contestant Chris Davidson lost out on an epic $8,400 trip to Puerto Rico after he made an amateur mistake answering a puzzle.
As he was trying to solve the riddle, Davidson added something that didn’t belong and lost on his exotic getaway.
Host Pat Sajak felt Davidson’s pain and said on the show, “Chris knows what he did, which is why he went back.
“He threw in that article. He threw in the ‘A’ in front of it, and we can’t accept it. Just the way it goes. It’s just one of the rules, and we gotta go by ’em, and Carol ends up getting the trip to Puerto Rico,” the longtime game show emcee, 75, added.
Despite the mistake leaving Davidson without a vacation, he still won some dough. He was advanced to the bonus round and his total winnings rounded out to $13,900.
Fans showed their support for Davidson on social media shortly after the episode aired. One penned, “I genuinely feel bad for this guy!”
One person shaded the rules of “Wheel of Fortune,” noting: “Their rules are outdated. If u say the damn phrase you should win. Can’t believe someone lost cause they waited to long between saying the phrase too when they said it in time.”
Someone else argued, “What he said was, ‘Uh… frozen concoction.’ It wasn’t an article it was a brief, commonplace stammer, after which he paused. A contestant with a severe speech impediment wouldn’t stand a chance of winning! That would be a clear-cut case of disability discrimination.”
“Hopefully, just like the person who didn’t win an Audi on a technicality, and Audi stepped up and gave them one anyway… maybe the Puerto Rican tourist Board will do the same?? @PuertoRicoTours@PuertoRicoTouri,” another suggested.
Last year, Audi gifted contestant Charlene Rubush a brand-new car after she lost out on winning one when she took too long when she answered her puzzle.
“Wheel of Fortune” has had their own fair share of eye-rolling snafus as of late.
Last month, the show received backlash when three players couldn’t figure out the seemingly simple phrase “renting a pedal boat.” The letters T, E and L were missing, and the contestants were guessing the wrong phrases.
In a separate episode, Sajak got burned by viewers after he publicly humiliated contestant Scott Ingwersen.
Ingwersen was telling a survival story during his introduction interview when Sajak made his snarky feelings known about it. He spoke about a time when his big toe was cut off and Sajak seemed visibly annoyed and uncaring.
“Why am I mentioning this?” Sajak asked. “It’s on your card. You had your big toe chopped off. Why are you telling this?” After Ingwersen finished his tale, the audience applauded.
But the Chicago native quickly shut them down. “That may have been the most pointless story ever told. And you told it, Scott. Congratulations to you,” an unimpressed Sajak said as he shook his head.