'Wheel of Fortune' Fans Are Calling Out Pat Sajak for His Huge Prize "Slipup"

Wheel of Fortune fans are trying to get to the bottom of a decision that seems to go against the the rules of the show.

On April 8, Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak introduced contestant Calvin Lee from La Palma, California. After a slow start, the father of two got the chance to play a prize puzzle in the “Fun & Games” category. Once Calvin solved the first puzzle, he moved on to the bonus round — but Wheel of Fortune fans think Pat might've been too quick to declare victory.

In an attempt to keep his luck going, Calvin chose to play the “Fun & Games” category again. Unfortunately, he didn’t correctly guess additional letters, and with only 10 seconds on the clock, he tried to figure out the puzzle. He shared his thought process out loud and the Wheel of Fortune host confirmed the answer before time was up.

“The final … Final beater … Final buzzer … Final … ,” he said. “Yeah, you said it,” Pat said.

With that, Calvin breathed a sigh of relief, and Pat revealed that he had just won the ultimate prize. “You know what? You said ‘final buzzer’ before you heard the final buzzer, which was good, and now you have a car,” Pat said.

In the end, Calvin walked away with a new ride and nearly $50,000. Though Wheel of Fortune fans love celebrating winners on the show, many were left scratching their heads. Observant folks noted that he didn’t say the complete full phrase before Pat awarded him the prize — a criteria contestants must follow in order to win rounds.

“@WheelofFortune Why did Calvin win tonight by saying ‘Final Buzzer’ and not ‘The Final Buzzer?’ Your rules are not uniform,” one person wrote on Twitter. “This finalist on #WheelOfFortune did not say THE FINAL BUZZER. 😒,” another added.

Others speculated that Pat had made a mistake. “Amused that they didn't penalize him for saying ‘Final Buzzer’ instead of 'The Final Buzzer.' I wonder if that was a slipup by the producers or intentional,” a different fan said. “I think Pat Sajak jumped the gun. I wonder if production rescinded the win after the fact?” a follower commented.

Still, there were viewers who were super happy for the contestant. “Calvin didn’t exactly say 'THE Final Buzzer,' BUT I am VERY glad he won the car! 🙂 That was a GREAT solve! 👍,” someone else tweeted.

In recent years, Wheel of Fortune has earned a reputation for following its rule book to a tee, including denying prizes when words are accidentally omitted or added. During the show’s March 30 episode, contestant Chris Davidson mistakenly included an “a” in the final answer “frozen concoction” and he missed out on a Puerto Rico trip. “Chris knows what he did, which is why he went back,” Pat said. “He threw in that article. He threw in the 'A' in front of it and we can't accept it. Just the way it goes. It’s just one of the rules and we gotta go by ’em.”

But in Calvin’s case “the” wasn’t said during the official submission and it still got the green light. What do you think?

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