‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans React After Contestant’s Shocking Puzzle Miss
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A Wheel of Fortune contestant missed out on Tuesday night (April 30) after making a “painful” wrong letter pick on a seemingly obvious puzzle.
The contestant was Kimberly Wright from Apopka, Florida, a mother of all boys who enjoys ‘glamping.’ Wright faced Russ Gergely, a Cleveland sports fan from Tallmadge, Ohio, and Marie Kioski from Owosso, Michigan, who likes to play the Wheel slots at the casino she frequents.
Wright struggled to get out of the starting blocks, having no money in her prize pot at the end of the first round. Things only got worse for the Florida native in the Express Round, where she threw away $7,250 on a puzzle that most viewers at home thought was easy.
The puzzle board read “DU _ _ – _ ILLED PLATYPUS,” and Wright had a chance to solve it, or at least add more money to the pot by guessing a correct letter.
Instead, she guessed the letter “F,” presumably thinking it was a “Duck-Filled Platypus.”
Wheel of Fortune/YouTube
Kioski then swooped in with the correct answer of “Duck-Billed Platypus,” bagging herself the cash and a trip to the Margaritaville Vacation Club Rio Mar in Puerto Rico worth $7,863.
“Oh my, that was painful. F?? she thought the platypus was filled? with what exactly?” wrote one fan on X (formerly Twitter).
““F”ckin brutal,” quipped another.
“Oh, I hope [she] isn’t on social media. She gonna get blasted for missing that puzzle,” added another.
“This lady said “f,”” another commenter wrote, followed by three crying laughing emojis.
However, others thought Kioski shouldn’t have been awarded the answer either due to slightly mispronouncing the word “platypus.”
“She said palatypus, that incorrect,” wrote one fan.
“Not to be a d**k, but she said “palatypus” and not “platypus” — wow,” added another.
“I thought it was just me that heard that. Other people of not gotten away with lesser mistakes,” another user said.
Unfortunately for Wright and Kioski, neither woman made it to the Bonus Round, as Gergely went on a late-game comeback, winning the episode with $22,550.
Gergely selected “What Are You Doing?” as his final category and the additional letters “M, P, G, and I.” This left him with a three-word puzzle that read, “_ _ _ I N G / T _ E / _ _ R.”
Sadly, he wasn’t able to figure it out, incorrectly guessing “Biking The Car” and “Filling The Jar” before the timer ran out.
Vanna White then unveiled the correct answer as “Waxing The Car,” and Pat Sajak revealed Gergely had missed out on a brand new Ford Edge.
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