Ryan Seacrest is putting his own spin on Wheel of Fortune, but on Tuesday, October 29’s episode, the new host’s inner Pat Sajak showed through when he got uncharacteristically short with a pair of players during their bonus puzzle.
Kelli Mullen and Emma Paulson, best friends for 23 years from Minnesota who met in the sixth grade, schooled their opponents during the “Girlfriend Getaways” special episode (where contestants compete as teams). They proceeded to the coveted bonus round with $19,530 in cash and a prize trip to Barbados.
Selecting “What Are You Doing?” the peppy players were presented with the two-word puzzle. Seacrest asked them for their four additional letters. While pairs of players are allowed to consult each other, Kelli and Emma were indecisive, taking some time to select each letter, and too long for Seacrest’s liking.
With around five seconds of whispers between each letter, they chose a “C,” and then could be heard whispering “Which one?” picking a “D”. At this juncture, an off-screen Seacrest interrupted them and whispered back: “I can hear you.” The players laughed it off as Seacrest sternly added: “Hurry.”
They chose an “F” and whispered “A” to each other, which the host took upon himself to make their last letter. “‘A,’” he said, bluntly adding: “I heard you.” Nervous chuckles ensued and, after a drawn-out 30 seconds of letter choosing, Vanna White added their letters and the puzzle read: “A_ _ L _ _ N_’ ‘_ _ SELF.”
The 10-second timer began Kelli and Emma weren’t able to muster up a full guess and the full puzzle displayed: “Applying Myself.” Joined by Seacrest, he revealed from the gold prize card that they missed out on a whopping $75,000. Seacrest more jovially concluded, “It was so great to meet you.”
The game show shared the big miss on YouTube, where fans picked up on Seacrest’s never-before-seen impatient side over their puzzle-solving style, and reacted to the tough blow.
“I like how Ryan says ‘I can hear you.’ When they’re whispering lol,” the top comment read.
“HOW IN THE WORLD DID THEY NOT GET IT?!” wrote another fan.
“They were too busy whispering, they should’ve got it right on the spot instead of whispering too much during the bonus round, especially when there’s an A up there,” replied a third.
“That was painful but not the worst painful missing out on 75k “P’s” would’ve done it,” argued a fourth.“Ouch! $75,000. 2nd biggest prize in the bonus round loss besides the million. But they still won $19,530!” wrote a fifth.Related‘Wheel of Fortune’ Player Wins $100,000 After Giving Fans a ‘Heart Attack’
Meanwhile, Seacrest is settling into his big gig having replaced Sajak as host after four decades last month. His debut month brought in the strongest in ratings for WoF in the past three years. That said, there have been a few instances where the wheels have come off according to fans.Earlier this month, viewers called out the host for an on-air blunder they dubbed his “first blooper”, which involved a delayed reaction to rewarding a player the bonus puzzle. Seacrest was also called out for ruling against a player in the bonus round before the timer was up. There have been a few on-screen “glitches,” some lackluster trip destinations (a DeKalb, Georgia contestant won a trip to… Savannah, Georgia), and some questionable bonus puzzles (Cashew Milk?)Wheel of Fortune, Weeknights, Check local listings
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