‘Wheel of Fortune’: Soccer Player Loses $70,000 After Pronunciation Controversy
A Wheel of Fortune contestant lost out on taking home $70,000 after a tough Bonus Puzzle. Meanwhile, fans called out another contestant for mispronouncing one of the toss-ups and still getting credit for it.
Callie Meredith, from West Chester, Ohio, played against Brian Townsend, from Pembroke Pines, Florida, and Nikki Robinson, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 19. Meredith is a hobby collector who has tried many things, from guitar to cross-stitching and more.
Towsend, a former soccer player of 30 years, solved the first toss-up — “Treasure Hunters” — but that wasn’t the one fans had a problem with. The second toss-up was “Family Heirloom,” which he solved. However, Townsend seemingly pronounced it, “Family Hair Loom.”
The judges accepted it, but host Ryan Seacrest told him how to correctly pronounce it. Townsend said “Oh” and chuckled.
“It’s alright. You knew what you were saying!” the host said. Townsend put $3,000 in his bank, despite the mess-up.
However, Reddit fans were not having it. “Hair loom? No. Just no,” one said.
“Hair Loom?! That’s not right,” another commented.
“I can’t believe that they allowed him to mispronounce ‘heirloom’ and start the 1st round. It’s worse than the time they allowed a contestant to mispronounce ‘porcelain’ as Porch-uh-lynn. Ugh!” a third added.
“I don’t think Brian should gotten the toss-up for FAMILY HEIRLOOM since he mispronounced ‘heirloom.’ Other than that misstep, he did well,” one last fan said.
Meredith took the lead with $3,300 when she solved the first puzzle in “Before & After”— “Sleeping Beauty Salon.” For the “Most Likely To” Puzzle, Meredith picked up the Mystery Wedge and added $10,000 to her bank when she solved “Be Late To Their Own Wedding.” All together, she had $18,000.
She was on a roll as she solved the Prize Puzzle — “Magnificent Sunset” — and won a trip to Turks & Caicos, giving her a total of $28,670.
Townsend solved two of three Triple Toss-ups, putting $4,000 more in his bank. Meredith solved the last one in “Word Play,” giving her $2,000 more.
Robinson, a hairapist, finally got on the board when she solved the final puzzle — “Peach Strudel” — giving her $3,200. Meredith ended with $30,670. Townsend ended with $7,000.
Meredith chose “Phrase” and brought her sister and husband with her to the Bonus Round. After being given “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” the game show contestant chose “P,H,C, and O” to round out her puzzle.
It then looked like “_ _O_N_ _ NE_ _O_.” Meredith couldn’t figure out “I Found a New Job.”
“You probably needed a little bit more to get there,” Ryan Seacrest said. She lost out on taking home an additional $40,000, which would have given her a total of $70, 670.
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