Please note: We are re-sharing this article, which initially broke in January 2024.
Furious fans of “Wheel of Fortune” are protesting, firmly believing that a competitor named Megan was unfairly denied $40,000 for a response that seemed to be perfectly correct.
Megan, a married high school choir instructor based in California, was tasked with solving a two-word final puzzle in the “Living Thing” category.
After the wheel came to a stop, presenter Pat Sajak directed Megan to the puzzle screen, which showed the incomplete phrase “_ N ‘ R _ _ _.’”
By carefully choosing her letters, Megan updated the board to read “P_N_’ ‘RC _ D.”
With only 10 seconds remaining on the clock, Megan quickly blurted out her final attempt, which sounded very much like “Pink Orchid” or something closely resembling it. The right letters lit up the screen exactly as the buzzer sounded, causing Megan to groan in vocal frustration when the true answer, “Pink Orchid,” was revealed.
Sajak, noting that Megan had been on the right track, opened the prize envelope to show a massive $40,000—a sum well above the $14,007 she actually walked away with.
Audiences tuning in from home were baffled by the ruling, immediately voicing their anger to the show over what they perceived as an invalid rejection of Megan’s answer.
“The woman got screwed on #WheelOfFortune bonus puzzle tonight; she totally said ‘PINK ORCHID’ right at the start,” griped one watcher.
“I asked the judges from the first thing she said!! I’m deaf in one ear, and half remaining on right, so I use captions and lip read. She said ‘Pink Orchid’!! No question!!,” another supporter argued.
“I am FUMING!! She got it; she said pink orchid! Wtf?!” a third individual declared.
“Hey @WheelofFortune I heard the contestant say “pink orchid” at the beginning of that final puzzle & rewound it to make sure. You owe her some $$$,” an annoyed fan demanded.
“Okay @WheelofFortune if you play tonight’s episode once again for the final puzzle, the one that just aired, you will hear clearly that she said ‘pink orchid.’ You did not properly credit the winner. Go and play it back. Seriously she said exactly that! Pink Orchid!”
In the midst of this backlash, Wheel of Fortune is dealing with increasing scrutiny from viewers over perceived mistakes, such as a recent debate regarding a rhyme in an Express round. On January 22, the viewership exploded in outrage when the program appeared to botch an answer in the “Rhyme Time” section.
During that particular incident, two players were completely stuck, but a third competitor named Jill managed to solve the board by asking for two “y’s,” completing the phrase: “Absolutely Positively.”
Viewers fiercely objected to the ruling, pointing out that “Absolutely” and “Positively” do not actually rhyme with each other.
“Hey @WheelofFortune,” one spectator tweeted. “Care to explain how these two words rhyme Because they absolutely positively DON’T.”