Television
Why ‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans are upset with Pat Sajak
A ‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant missed out on $100,000 during a recent episode, which left some fans fired up.
‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans aren’t happy with Pat Sajak after a college student missed out on the chance to win $100,000 during a recent episode.
Why ‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans are upset with Pat Sajak
Texas Women’s University student Alexa Hoekstra was competing on the show as part of its College Week Spring Break special.
After earning $19,950, she made her way onto the bonus round for a chance to win an even bigger prize.
She was given the category “What Are You Doing?”, and after choosing her letters, she was left with “__ST _IN_IN_ IT” after Vanna White flipped over the blocks on the board.
“I don’t know,” Sajak said “Will it be enough? ‘Cause that’s all you’re getting.”
Alexa began shouting out answers, but in the end, the buzzer went off and she lost the round.
One of her guesses was “Just Winning It”, but many viewers thought she said “Just Winging It”, which was the correct answer.
At one point it sounded like Sajak was going to ask her to repeat herself, but he didn’t, with Alexa providing more guesses that proved incorrect.
In the end, the judges deemed she didn’t give the correct answer, with Sajak opening the card to see what her prize would have been, before closing it.
“Oh, man,” he said as the crowd groaned. “Hey, I can’t help it...I feel terrible.
“But anyway you win $19,950 – still an impressive haul.”
‘Wheel of Fortune’ let their feelings be known
Fans watching at home weren’t pleased with the final result.
“I think you folks just denied this girl $100k...I sure heard “Just Winging It”,” wrote one Twitter user.
“I’m absolutely certain that the first thing she said was ‘Just winging It.’ You owe that young woman an apology and $100,000!” tweeted another.
“Lifelong watcher here! Alexa got robbed tonight. Her first attempt was “Just winging it!” I’ve rewatched it a dozen times – you guys goofed. Give her the $100K she rightly won!” added another.
However, not all fans agreed. Some said they heard Alexa say “winning” instead of “winging”.
“She said just winning it. Stop lying to yourselves and being mad for no reason. It was fair,” wrote one Twitter user.