‘Wheel of Fortune’: Pat Sajak Reacts After Contestant’s Baffling Puzzle Fail
Pat Sajak is only a few weeks away from retirement and is showing his softer side as of late, like on Tuesday’s (May 21) Wheel of Fortune, where he sympathized with a contestant after a baffling puzzle blunder.
The contestant in question was Brittany Collins, a children’s hospital facilitator and Bingo player from Louisville, Kentucky, who faced off against Susan Meissner from Charleston, South Carolina, and Blake Swoboda from Houston, Texas.
Collins looked primed for a successful night when she nailed the $1,000 and $2,000 Tossup puzzles under the “Things” and “Food and Drink” categories. However, she hit a brick wall when she faced what appeared to be an obvious “Phrase” puzzle.
The puzzle board read: “A N _ T _ I N G / I S / P O S S I _ _ E.”
Instead of choosing to solve, Collins asked for another letter and shockingly selected an “R,” which, of course, was wrong.
Wheel of Fortune/YouTube
“I’m sorry, no R,” Sajak said as Meissner swooped in to solve with the correct answer, “Anything Is Possible.”
Collins looked embarrassed by her blunder, but Sajak let her off the hook, telling the viewers, “Sometimes you’re sitting at home and you think, ‘I know that.’ It’s a funny thing… sometimes, it doesn’t want to come in to focus, and then we move on to the next round.”
However, while Sajak was sympathetic, viewers at home weren’t quite so forgiving.
“She really asked for an ‘R’?” wrote one fan on X (formerly Twitter).
“Where the heck did that woman think an R was going to fit into that puzzle?” said another.
“I can’t believe she said ‘R’ , proving that anything is not possible #wheeloffortune,” commented another viewer.
Another added, “How did she not know it? It was pretty much complete, apart from like 3 letters, now she’s made me grind my teeth, and I can’t stop.”
Collins never truly got back in the game after her blunder, but neither did Meissner. Instead, Swoboda took control, winning the episode with $27,250 cash and a trip to Fairmont Mayakoba in Riviera Maya. He then solved the Bonus Round puzzle and added a brand new Infiniti QX50 Pure AWD to his winnings.
What did you think of Collins’ puzzle miss? Let us know in the comments section below.
Wheel of Fortune, Weekdays, check your local listings
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services