Watch “Wheel of Fortune ”contestant lose round after mispronouncing completed puzzle

Emlyn Travis
·2 min read
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Watch “Wheel of Fortune ”contestant lose round after mispronouncing completed puzzle
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This was not a congenial loss.

The Wheel of Fortune was not spinning in one contestant’s favor last night when she lost a round on the hit game show after mispronouncing a fully completed puzzle.

Shauna Williams successfully solved the “Same Letter” category on Wednesday night’s episode to reveal the correct answer “congenial company & clever conversation,” but was denied any earnings by host Pat Sajak after she mispronounced the word “congenial” when reading the puzzle aloud.

“Uh, no,” Sajak replied, before the puzzle was passed on to fellow competitor Steve Sporre, who answered correctly.

Viewers at home quickly took to social media to discuss whether or not Sajak’s ruling was fair. “Is it just me or did Shauna get a raw deal on the R1 puzzle?” One fan wrote on social media. “It's been a while since somebody got buzzed for mispronouncing a word.”

Another fan noted that they “didn’t know pronouncing things correctly was a rule” on the show at all, while a third fan remarked, “Shauna was congenial in defeat!”

Last year, Sajak encouraged viewers to "have a little heart" when it comes to ridiculing contestants who mess up puzzles while competing on the long-running show, writing on social media, "It always pains me when nice people come on our show to play a game and win some money and maybe fulfill a lifelong dream, and are then subject to online ridicule when they make a mistake or something goes awry.”

This isn’t the first time that a contestant has lost a puzzle on a technicality. Charlene Rubush notoriously lost out on winning an Audi Q3 after she took too long of a pause while correctly answering a bonus round puzzle back in 2021. The company later reached out and rectified the loss by giving her a car instead.

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