‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans complain after another contestant loses big: ‘Frustrating to watch’

“Wheel of Fortune” fans are often quick to criticize contestants, and the winner of last night’s episode was no exception.

A woman named Tina came out on top at the end of the episode and moved on to attempt to solve the bonus puzzle.

When she was not able to guess the correct answer, viewers immediately took to social media to call her out.

When she was allowed to choose the category for the bonus puzzle, Tina chose “Event.”

After the six letters the show regularly provides and the four she picked herself, she was left with a puzzle that read, “M__OR _L____RD.”

After making a face, her first guess was “minor blizzard.” She looked more and more panicked as time ticked down, repeating “minor” and trailing off.

Before the buzzer went off indicating she had run out of time, she said “I don’t know!”

“You’ve got to think bigger! Think bigger!” host Pat Sajak told her as the answer was revealed to be “major blizzard.”

“I was close!” she exclaimed, and Sajak agreed, saying, “I feel terrible. You had exactly the right idea, you just had the wrong key.”

He then opened the prize envelope, showing that had she guessed correctly she would have won a $40,000 prize.

Tina seemed to remain in good spirits despite the loss.

She ended up going home with her earlier winnings of $31,310.

Fans of the show are active on social media, and they came to X to discuss her mistake.

“Since when has a MINOR BLIZZARD ever occurred?!!?” one person asked, along with a laughing emoji.

“This game is frustrating to watch! How do you say ‘Minor Blizzard’ and then ‘Major….’ blah blah blah without saying ‘MAJOR BLIZZARD’??????!!!!!!” another person complained. To clarify, Tina never said “major” on the show.

“Damn, Tina! MINOR, MAJOR!” read another comment.

One viewer got especially annoyed, writing, “You d—head, if it’s not minor, your immediate next guess is major, not minor again.”

Others pointed out that since “Wheel of Fortune” automatically gives contestants the letter “N” in the bonus round, the puzzle could not have possibly contained the word “minor” anyway.

Earlier this week, Sajak was involved in a heavily discussed moment on the show when he shouted at a contestant to “shut up,” in a joking moment that turned awkward.

“According to my math, by $200—” Sajak began to explain before he was interrupted by the player, Angela, shrieking “Shut up!” with excitement.

As Sajak was surprised by the contestant’s candid reaction, he continued to ask, “You didn’t mean that personally?”

“No… never,” Angela responded wholeheartedly.

Sajak went on to finish his sentence, “According to my math, by $233, you are the winner with $11,900.”

Angela was ecstatic about the results and started clapping excitedly.

After Sajak announced the commercial break, he then took a pause and yelled “Shut up!” to the “Wheel of Fortune” contestant, as he attempted to match her energy.

Fans were quick to respond to the awkward encounter and did not approve of Sajak’s behavior during the episode.