‘Wheel of Fortune’s ‘Right in the Butt’ Contestant Returns to Show & Defends That Answer (VIDEO)
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Wheel of Fortune is bringing back fan-favorite contestants all week and there were no ifs, ands, or butts about the return of Tavaris Williams.
Tavaris went viral last May for his colossally incorrect guess to a “Phrase” puzzle. The $1000 puzzle was seeking “This is The Best.” Partially filled out, he confidently rang in with the answer heard around the world: “Right in the butt!” leaving former host Pat Sajak speechless and a fellow player exclaiming “What?”
The internet sensation got a shot at redemption on Wednesday, October 2. Although Tavaris did not technically take the stage as part of the BetMGM Big Winners Tournament for select past winners from the previous season (he didn’t win his episode), he took on a series of puzzles in an official bonus video with Sajak’s daughter, Maggie Sajak.
Maggie, WoF‘s social media correspondent, joined Tavaris to “play some puzzles and see how it goes,” as she put it with a nervous giggle — this time Tavaris solved every puzzle correctly, decidedly not going viral a second time.
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In a cruel twist, the last puzzle in the redo round was once again “This Is The Best” – AKA the puzzle in which the infamous guess took place. Tavaris and Maggie burst out laughing and the contestant defended his initial answer.
“I will die on this hill,” he said. “It fit, it was plausible. You get two seconds. I saw the ‘B,’ I saw the ‘T,’ I saw the ‘The.’ It was a 50/50 shot. I was so wrong.”
“Everyone gets a 2nd chance with @BetMGM!” WoF’s Instagram video was captioned. ‘Tavaris made waves with his answer on our first BetMGM @WheelOfFortune week but didn’t secure the W. So, we brought him back for round 2 with @maggiesajak! Here’s to REDEMPTION!”
Fans flooded the comment section thrilled to see Tavaris get his comeuppance and reacted to him standing by his gut, or butt, instinct.
“We love Tavaris,” one fan commented.
“This moment will outlive us all! My great-great grandchildren will know of Tavaris,” wrote another.
“I cannot see anything but ‘RITE IN THE BUTT’. Tavaris is the best,” wrote a third.
“There are five letters in ‘right'” snarked a fourth.
“Not the last puzzle… ” wrote a fifth.
Shortly after Tavaris’ iconic blunder, he went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and revealed how Pat handled the mishap.
“He made me feel so great about that at the break,” Tavaris shared. “He said, ‘You know, we’ll find a tactful way of editing it. I don’t know how, but we’ll do it.'”
Pat, of course, has since retired, and Season 42 of WoF is the first with a new host in Ryan Seacrest, who replaced the legend of four decades and is taking the stage nightly alongside TV royalty Vanna White. While a contestant had a cringe-worthy Michael B. Jordan mishap earlier this week, there haven’t been any blunders as immortal as this one.
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