Did ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Just Air Its Craziest Episode Ever? Ryan Seacrest Reacts

Martin Holmes September 19, 2024, 8:00 am

Wheel of Fortune bankrupt wedge — Wheel of Fortune/X

Ryan Seacrest is only into his second week as Wheel of Fortune host, and he fears he may have cursed the wheel after what fans call an “insane” string of bad luck on Wednesday’s (September 18) episode. And it’s left fans wondering if it was the craziest episode of the show ever.

Wednesday’s show saw a showdown between Melissa Brickey, a fundraiser for a non-profit supporting people with disabilities from St. Louis, Missouri, Brent Lau, an ice cream shop connoisseur from Bakersfield, California, and Tanijah Johnson, a recent grad student from Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Early in the episode, all three players ran into a wave of bad luck as the wheel seemed to be magnetically attracted to the bankrupt wedge. During the Crossword round, all three contestants landed on bankrupt back-to-back-to-back.

“Shall we have a conversation with this wheel?” Seacrest joked, leaning over and talking to the iconic prop. “What are you doing to us?!”

Lau then spun again but unbelievably landed on Lose A Turn. “We did something bad before we got here,” Seacrest quipped.

#WHEELOFFORTUNE #OMG #BANKRUPT pic.twitter.com/6vYEbvXoPW

— Marc_Cumbie (@Marc_Cumbie) September 18, 2024

Johnson momentarily broke the bad luck by landing on $800 and picking the letter H. But her good fortune didn’t last as she spun again and landed back on bankrupt, losing everything. Brickey then spun and also landed on bankrupt again.

“So, I’m new here. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” the American Idol host said before telling Lau to “break this curse!”

Unfortunately, Lau did not break the curse, as he once again landed on Lose a Turn, leaving Seacrest exasperated. “Vanna? What is going on?” Seacrest said, turning to his co-host Vanna White, who simply laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “Please, help me!”

When Johnson spun again and once more landed on bankrupt, Seacrest couldn’t even speak. He leaned over and banged his head against the set.

Wheel of Fortune/X

“Do you want me to spin?” Brickey asked. “Please,” Seacrest replied.

Finally, Brickey ended the curse, landing on $600 and solving the puzzle. Brickey kept up the momentum from there, winning the episode with $20,050 and nailing the Bonus Round puzzle to bag an extra $40,000.

Fans took to social media to share their reactions to the unbelievable bad luck round, with one Wheel of Fortune Reddit user writing, “That had to be the biggest run of bad luck on the wheel I’ve seen in a long time!”

“I couldn’t stop laughing at Ryan’s reaction,” said another.

“Yep that was crazy!! Good mix of bankrupt and lose a turn,” one commenter added.

Another added, “That was insane!! What are the odds of that happening so many times in a row?”