‘Wheel of Fortune’ Player Has Letter Disaster During $40,000 Bonus Round (VIDEO)

A Wheel of Fortune contestant suffered a brutal bonus round loss when her shot at an extra $40,000 took an unfortunate spin. It all went horribly wrong when her letter choices added just ONE letter to the puzzle.

The tough break occurred on Thursday, November 14’s episode. Kris Dillon, an Army veteran who now works for the local sheriff’s department in Roanoke, Virginia (and who climbed Mt. Fuji), proceeded to the bonus round. She had $15,415 in cash and a prize trip to Aruba.

Having selected “Phrase,” she joined host Ryan Seacrest center stage. Faced with a four-word puzzle, ‘_ E’ ‘ _ _ T ‘_T’ ‘_ _ _’ it was time to pick her additional letters. She went with an “M, D, B, A.” Since she also had an elusive Wildcard wedge, she had the boost of an extra letter, going with a “W.”

Seacrest was excited about her odds since she had got five letters while players usually only got four: “A lot of letters to work with!” Then came the heartbreaker. Vanna White went over to the top-left corner, tapping a lone “W.” No other letters were added, and the iconic letter-turner clasped her hands in disappointment. “Oh my gosh,” Seacrest uttered out-of-frame. “Oh no, just one. Okay.”

The 10-second timer began, the puzzle now reading, ‘WE’ ‘ _ _ T ‘_T’ ‘_ _ _’ and Dillon tried her very best with rapid-fire guesses, “We Got It Now? We Got it Done? We Let it Go?” It was to no avail, as the timer ran out and the puzzle was unveiled, “We Hit It Off.”

Seacrest revealed his gold prize card contained the $40,000 amount, and the audience collectively moaned. “Thank you for your service!” he told Dillon with a consoling hand-on-shoulder, who replied, “Thank you.”

The game show shared the big miss on YouTube (titling the video, “Only one Letter!?” highlighting the rough rarity), and fans in the comments section expressed their shock at the one-letter letdown, others sharing letters that may have been wiser to pick.

“Hope Kris has a great trip to Aruba! She definitely needed more letters, especially with the Wild Card. At least she tried hard,” one fan wrote.

“That was harder than it looks. Because of the various combos that can be played,” wrote another.

“Letters weren’t there,” agreed a third.

“‘M’ and ‘B’ were questionable choices, weren’t they? ‘Me but’? ‘Me bit’?” argued a fourth.

“Have she picked the ‘H’ she would have had it,” echoed a fifth.

“Well no 40k tonight happy for this Lady’s valiant effort,” wrote one more. 

Meanwhile, WoF fans are settling into the Seacrest era, as he became the official replacement for Pat Sajak after four decades for Season 42. His debut month was the strongest ratings month for WoF in the past three years, and viewers were already treated to a viral moment with a round of sausage. That said, there have been some puzzling moments from the new host.

In September, Seacrest suffered what fans dubbed his “first blooper”, involving a delayed reaction to rewarding a bonus round. Fans also called out the host for ruling against another player before his timer was up. There have been a few on-screen “glitches,” some let-down trip destinations, and some questionable bonus puzzles (Cashew Nuts?) Plus, during his first week, many fans blamed a lack of experience on Seacrest’s mishandling of a contestant’s $1million wedge, which she instantly forfeited.

Wheel of Fortune, Weeknights, Check local listings