‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Loses $67,000 After Letter Pick Disaster

A Wheel of Fortune contestant lost the Bonus Round after none of the letters he picked appeared on the board. This came after host Ryan Seacrest warned him not to make a costly mistake.

Clayton Charles, from Bourbonnais, Illinois, played against Erica Jason, from Aubrey, Texas, and Jess Brady, from Loves Park, Illinois, on September 17, 2024. The game show is currently airing reruns during its summer hiatus, and this episode reaired on June 10.

Charles started off the game by getting some advice from Ryan Seacrest to help him earn more money. In the evening’s prize puzzle, when Charles trailed Brady by thousands, he landed on the Express $1,000 tile and decided to “ride the train” or keep guessing for $1,000 a letter until he could solve it or lose it all.

The clue, in the event category, was revealed to be “Traditional Tea Ceremony,” which became increasingly obvious with every non-money-making vowel the contestant put on the board. When the vowels ran out, though, and there were just a few consonants remaining, Clayton decided to solve the puzzle.

“Are you sure you don’t want more cash? Hurry!” Seacrest asked him. Charles added two more letters to the board and nearly doubled his total. As the round cut to a commercial break, Seacrest approached the contestant and explained, “Man, I just wanted to make sure you got as much as you could,” to which Charles could do nothing but shrug about his lack of awareness and quick decision-making.

Thank God Seacrest let him get more money early on because he lost out on an additional $40,000 in the Bonus Round. He wound up with $27,548 and a trip to Japan. Jason went home with $1,000. Brady had $19,500.

Charles chose “Around the House” for the category. Wheel of Fortune gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” Charles chose “C,K,D, and A” to round out his puzzle. However, none of the letters that the game show contestant picked were in the puzzle. From the letters Wheel gave him, his puzzled looked like “_L_ _ER    _ _ _ES.”

As the clock counted down, Charles guessed “blower,” but couldn’t quite guess the puzzle, which was “Flower Boxes.”

“I think you needed a head start there,” Ryan Seacrest said. Despite losing out on $67,000, the host told Charles to stand straight and tall because he went home with $27,548 and a trip.

“I would not have gotten that. Flower Boxes are an old-school house staple, but I wouldn’t have thought that first,” a YouTube user wrote. 

“I thought of flower vases, but not flower boxes,” said another. 

“That puzzle was designed to be a loss,” added a third.

“What in the name of seven seas are flower boxes?” a fan asked.

Wheel of Fortune, Season 43, Fall 2025, check local listings