‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Shout at Contestant Who Made $80,000 Mistake
Why did she do that? Wheel of Fortune fans couldn’t believe a contestant didn’t ride the Express Train fully, causing her to lose out on money. But, she still took a good chunk of change home.
Beth Malone, from Marietta, Georgia, played against Austin Rosen, from Boca Raton, Florida, and Erica Witherspoon, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 15.
Rosen, a married father who likes cooking BBQ and smoking meats, solved three Fortune Frenzy puzzles, giving him $3,000, while Malone, a woman who likes fishing with her son, solved one, making her total $1,000.
Malone solved “It’s Good to See You Again!” for $8,650. Witherspoon, whose favorite all-time movie is Titanic, picked up the one-million-dollar wedge when she solved “Matt Damon Stars in The Odyssey.” This gave her $6,200.
With only three letters left in the puzzle to solve and a Wild Card won, Malone landed on the Express Wedge. She called an “X” and then rode the train. When the puzzle looked like “EXTRAORDINARY TEMPLE_,” she solved “Extraordinary Temples.”
She won a trip to Cambodia, giving her a total of $28,300. Malone would have gotten an extra $1,000 if she had guessed the “S.” Fans pointed out her mistake on Reddit.
“Don’t solve when riding the train until you fill everything in!” one fan said.
“I was scared she wasn’t even going to try at all!” another replied.
“Especially because the category was ‘landmarkS’ so the S should have been automatic, not to mention being one of the common letters you should always call up front,” a third said.
“Nerves and excitement, but ahh!” another replied.
“Wish they’d get rid of the train entirely. The players don’t understand it. They skip it for no reason half the time, then don’t understand how it works when they do ‘hop on.’ It’s infuriating,” one last fan said.
Malone solved one of the Triple Toss-ups while Witherspoon solved the other. Rosen solved the final puzzle – “A September to Remember.” This gave him a final total of $4,600.
Witherspoon left with $10,200. Malone was the winner with $30,300. She advanced to the Bonus Round, where she chose “Person.”
Wheel of Fortune gave the game show contestant “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” Malone chose “H,C,M,A, and D” to round out her puzzle. The puzzle then looked like “MATH _R_D_ _ _.”
As the clock counted down, she guessed “Math Grading” and then said she “couldn’t do it.” The puzzle turned out to be “Math Prodigy.”
There was $50,000 in her envelope, which would have given her $80,300. “But that’s ok. It was a good day!” Malone said.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Peacock and Hulu
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