‘Wheel of Fortune’: 12 Worst Guesses Ever
Competing on Wheel of Fortune must be a nerve-wracking experience. The lights are bright, the studio audience’s eyes are on you, and thousands of dollars are on the line.
So we certainly feel for the following contestants, who made astounding errors on the long-running game show, much to outgoing host Pat Sajak’s delight (and, sometimes, dismay). From accidental mispronunciations to out-of-left-field responses, here are our picks for the 12 worsts guesses from Wheel of Fortune history.
12. You say “flamenco,” he says…
In 2018, a contestant named Jonny lost out on a $7,100 prize after pronouncing “flamenco” like “flamingo.” Ashley, whose turn it was next, almost looked sheepish as she offered the correct answer.
11. Tennessee Williams is rolling in his grave
After thinking that the play A Streetcar Named Desire was titled A Streetcar Naked Desire in a 2017 episode, Kevin Haas said in a statement that he was glad to give viewers a laugh. “That, my friends, is the naked truth,” he added, per TIME.
10. A “fregh” response
A contestant named Khushi might never go to a grocery store without a twinge of humiliation, having offered a “G” instead of a “S” as the final letter in “FRE_H TROPICAL FRUIT” in a 2023 Wheel of Fortune episode.
9. A child-ish flub
In 2002, a contestant named Linda actually thought that the answer to a Wheel of Fortune puzzle would be “an ugly child” instead of “an only child.” (“What can I say? I’m a schoolteacher,” she said by way of… explanation?)
8. No Live fans here
None of the contestants of a 2010 episode could nail the names of former Live cohosts Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa at first, saying “Philburn,” “Philmin,” and — even once the answer was revealed — “Ree-pa” instead of Ripa.
7. A prescription for failure
In an infamous 1999 episode of Wheel, one contestant guessed “a group of pill-pushers” instead of “a group of well-wishers.” Sajak jokingly announced the end of that episode’s taping.
6. Wand-ering around the answer
If you can deduce the answer from the puzzle “MAG_C _AND,” you’re better off than a contestant named Zach, who in a 2012 episode guessed 10 wrong consonants for that second blank before realizing — just after the buzzer — that the answer is “magic wand.”
5. Pronunciation is his Achilles heel
Julian Batts staked his place in game show infamy in 2014 when he lost $1 million by pronouncing Achilles like “A-chillus.” (“It’s the Wheel of Fortune,” Batts said in a follow-up interview with IndyStar. “Crazy stuff happens all the time. It’s a crazy game.”)
4. Tuber on the tube
Lolita McAuley also had an embarrassing turn on the show, guessing “self-potato” — whatever that is — instead of “self-portrait” in a 2009 episode. McAuley told The New York Times she wanted to “go and hide” right after the word salad fell out of her mouth.
3. What kind of shower?
Melanie inadvertently — seemingly inadvertently, at least — name-dropped a NSFW sex act on Wheel of Fortune in 2018, saying “gold shower” instead of “cold shower.”
2. The lovely Parisian city of Venice
After winning a trip to Venice on the show in 2016, a contestant named David flunked Sajak’s impromptu geography quiz, venturing that Venice is a city in the country of Paris. (“Do we still get [the prize]?” asked David’s embarrassed wife.)
1. Right where?!
Tavaris Williams made a wild guess in a toss-up round in 2024, thinking “____ I_ T_E B__T” might be “right in the butt.” (The correct answer was “this is the best.”) “I have never used those words in sequential order a day in my life,” Williams later said on Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
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