‘Wheel of Fortune’: Groom-to-Be Groans After Losing $104,000

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A groom-to-be on Wheel of Fortune missed out on the chance to pay off his whole wedding, and a lot more. He couldn’t figure out the final puzzle, which would have given him $104,248.

Mike McFarlane, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, tried to solve the first Fortune Frenzy on October 21, but rang in with the wrong answer. His opponent, Haley Black, from Marietta, Georgia, went on to solve three, putting her in the lead. They played against Deneen Taylor, from Chicago, Illinois, who solved the last one right before the buzzer.

McFarlane, who is getting married in 36 days, solved “Now You See It, Now You Don’t.” He won $5,750 for that solve, as well as the Wild Card.

Black, who wants to use the prize money to build a sofa, solved the “Before & After” puzzle — “Funny Business or Pleasure.” This gave her the lead with $8,250.

McFarlane solved “Keeping Up With the Joneses” after Taylor, who goes to the movies by herself and watches all the way through the credits, landed on Bankrupt. He took back the lead and won a trip to Montreal, Canada. The trip and solve gave him $26,248.

All three game show contestants solved a Triple Toss-up, putting $2,000 more in each of their banks. McFarlane had to get rid of his Wild Card when he landed on “Bankrupt” during the final puzzle. He solved “A Baker’s Dozen,” which gave him $29,248.

Taylor left with $3,000 and a hug from host Ryan Seacrest. Black went home with $10,250.

McFarlane chose “What Are You Doing?” for his Bonus Round category. He brought his fiancée, Tara, with him.

Wheel of Fortune gave the contestant “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” McFarlane rounded out his puzzle with “H,P,W, and A.”

This made the puzzle look like “_ _ _ _ _N_   AL_N_.” As the clock counted down, he guessed “Following Along,” “Singing Along,” “Moving Along,” “Going Along,” and “Jogging Along.”

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“A few more seconds, you would have stumbled on it because you were on the right path,” Seacrest said. The puzzle was “Buzzing Along.”

There was $75,000 in the envelope, which would have given him $104,248. McFarlane groaned at the loss.

Fans reacted to the final puzzle. “I could have been up there for an hour and not come up with tonight’s final puzzle. Not happy,” a Reddit user said.

“I couldn’t get the bonus round puzzle,” another commented.

Did you know the bonus puzzle? Let us know in the comments.