‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Loses $77,000 After Buzzer Controversy — Fans React

Brittany Sims February 23, 2026, 11:31 am

Did she get it? A Wheel of Fortune contestant thought she had solved the puzzle correctly, but the buzzer went off. Fans debated whether she got the puzzle or not before another contestant lost out on taking home $77,000.

Steve Johnson, from Westchester, Ohio, played against Mark Madison, from St. Louis, Missouri, and Helena Asherian, from Atlanta, Georgia, on February 20. Johnson is a man who has gotten hooked on travel, thanks to his wife, Angeline, and National Geographic magazines that he read at his grandparents’ house.

Johnson solved both of the toss-ups, putting $3,000 in his bank. He picked up the Expedition Cruise wedge on the first puzzle. Since National Geographic Week started, contestants had the chance to go on amazing trips if they kept the wedge all the way through to the Bonus Round and correctly solved it. He solved the “Before & After” puzzle — “How I Met Your Mother Nature” — for $8,900.

Asherian, a woman who tries to get on the jumbrotron everytime she goes to a sporting event, obtained the Wild Card in the second round, but landed on Bankrupt, so she had to give it up. Madison, a man who loves Sunday because of football, solved “Driving With the Blinkers On” for $13,350, taking the lead.

During the Prize Puzzle, Johnson won the One Million Dollar Wedge after Asherian landed on Bankrupt once again. He solved “Cabins & Sunsets” for a trip to Baha California, Mexico, for a total of $25,900.

In the Triple Toss-Up round, Asherian finally got on the board, when she solved the first two, putting $4,000 in her bank. Johnson solved the last one.

The final puzzle was where the controversy came in. When the puzzle looked like “P_ _ _ P_STR _ _S,” Asherian guessed an “F,” which then made the puzzle “P_FF P_STR_ _S.”

After the letters appeared, a buzzer went off when she guessed “Puff Pastries.” Host Ryan Seacrest asked, “Did she get it?,” thinking it was the time out buzzer, but it was the buzzer indicating that there were no only vowels left.

“Look at you coming in strong at the end,” Seacrest said. Asherian ended with $7,200.

Madison ended with $13,350. The night’s winner was Johnson with $27,900. He went into the Bonus Round with the Cruise wedge and the One Million Dollar Wedge.

Fans debated whether or not Asherian got the puzzle in time. “WTH on the last puzzle before the bonus round? Helena guessed the F and solved the puzzle just after the letters were displayed, and they had to make sure she got it solved in the 3 seconds?” a Reddit user asked.

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“It was because they played the sound when there’s only vowels left, but Ryan confused it with the ‘timeout’ buzzer. So it was just a momentary confusion on Ryan’s part. Fortunately, all was good for Helena on that,” another wrote.

“I noticed that too. It seems like the buzzer went off right after the letters were turned,” one fan said.

“Somebody needs to fix that buzzer. The second F hadn’t even been ‘turned over’ and it went off that she had run out of time,” another commented.

“Reference the final puzzle, ‘puff pastries.’ the contestant was clearly buzzed while Vanna was still in front of the letters she activated. Fortunately, the contestant started solving it but if she had waited for Vanna to move, she would have lost it,” fan pointed out.

During the Bonus Round, Johnson chose “Person.” He was given “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” and chose “G,H,P, and O.”

The puzzle then looked like “_OR_ER O_NER.” As the clock counted down, he guessed “Corner Owner” and “Border Owner.” Johnson couldn’t figure out “Former Owner.”

“You were definitely on the right path,” Seacrest said. The game show contestant lost out on taking home $77,900 as he he $50,000 in the envelope.

Do you think Asherian got the puzzle in time? Let us know in the comments.

Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock