‘Wheel of Fortune’: Pat Sajak Catches Ex-Cop ‘Lying’ About Letter Choice
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Pat Sajak might be in his final year of hosting Wheel of Fortune, but that doesn’t mean he’s taken his eye off the ball.
As reported by The U.S. Sun, the long-time game show host caught one contestant seemingly being less than truthful on the Tuesday (November 28) episode after she tried swapping one of her letter choices.
The contestant in question was Lindsey Ziegenfuss, a married mother of three and former police detective of 11 years from Oxford, PA. The retired cop had an impressive showing throughout the episode, handily beating her opponents, Anthony Jones and Leigh Wang.
However, when it came to the Bonus Round, it looked like she tried to pull a fast one on Sajak. After choosing the “Phrase” category, Ziegenfuss was faced with a four-word puzzle that read, “_ _ _ _S _ _ _ S_T,” with the initial letters “RSTLNE” provided.
As per usual, Sajak told Ziegenfuss she could select three additional consonants and one more vowel. This is where things got sticky. Ziegenfuss chose “H, D, S, and O,” not realizing that “S” had already been given.
The letters stopped appearing on the screen after “H” and “D,” and Sajak stopped proceedings to intervene. “Okay, that third letter was, you said H, D…?” the beloved host asked.
“H, D, C…,” Ziegenfuss replied, seemingly pretending she hadn’t said “S” at all.
Sajak didn’t let it go, asking, “But you did say S, right?”
Ziegenfuss smiled but didn’t admit to making a mistake.
“No? Hold on,” Sajak continued. “Earlier, did you say S or F? You said H, D…”
“C,” Ziegenfuss repeated, unwilling to accept that she’d been caught out.
“Oh, so it wasn’t either S or F?” Sajak responded as the studio audience laughed. “I think I got it, alright.”
Vanna White looked confused as the letters “H, D, C, and O” were finally confirmed.
Unfortunately for Ziegenfuss, none of those letters appeared in the puzzle, and she couldn’t work out the phrase “Pay Us A Visit.” After the timer ran out, Sajak revealed that the ex-cop lost out on an extra $40,000 to go with her $23,000 episode winnings.
Some viewers at home were annoyed that Ziegenfuss didn’t admit to her mistake.
“This lady just lied on Wheel of Fortune about what letter she said,” wrote one fan on X. “Pat tried to correct her and asked her to repeat what she said. I rewound to confirm the lie. None of her other letters worked though and she couldn’t guess it, so instant karma for her.”
“UNREAL cop behavior on Wheel of Fortune tonight,” said another commenter, while one fan added, “She said S!!!!!”
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