Another day, another memorable “Wheel of Fortune” misfire.
On the May 27 episode of the popular game show, everyone cheered when a contestant solved a puzzle. The problem? His guess was wrong, but no one except host Pat Sajak realized it, prompting him to quickly spoil the moment and rein in the celebration.
Here’s how it went down: During a toss up, a contestant named Rufus tried to solve the puzzle in the “Phrase” category with his guess, “Don’t look away.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Sajak immediately said, while Rufus celebrated by giving fist bumps to his fellow contestants and the audience cheered. Heck, even Vanna White clapped along.
“It’s not correct,” Sajak continued before the buzzer sounded without anyone chiming in with the proper answer and all the contestants lamenting what happened.
The correct answer then appeared on the puzzle board: “Can’t look away.”
“Everybody’s congratulating everybody, and we get to keep the money!” Sajak joked while the audience laughed.
The flub comes on the heels of another one last week, in which a contestant made a rather NSFW guess that prompted chuckles from the audience.
The host’s days dealing with amusing guesses is rapidly coming to a close. Sajak’s last episode hosting “Wheel of Fortune” is slated for June 7, his reps confirmed to TODAY.com, as he retires from the show he has hosted since 1981. Ryan Seacrest has been tapped to replace him.
White, who has been with the series since 1982 and signed a contract extension in 2023 to remain on the program through the 2025-2026 season, is sticking around, although she has thought about stepping away one day.
“I don’t know. When I heard that Pat was retiring, I thought maybe I should retire too. But I’m not ready!” she recently told TV Insider. “We’ll see toward the end of those two years how I feel. I thank God after all these years that I still love my job.”