Wheel of Fortune fans were left in stiches this week after a contestant flubbed a seemingly easy three-word answer in the “Food & Drink” category.
With the puzzle board almost complete, it read “Ne_ / _or_ / _heese_a_e” when it came time for contestant Gaelyn Nease to finish the answer. Nease thought she had it in the bag when she guessed “New York Cheesesteak.”
She barely had time to register her error before fellow contestant Carmetta Wells came in with the correct response: “New York Cheesecake.”
Wells went on to win a trip to New York City, including a VIP ticket to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
Nease’s mistake drew even more jeers after some viewers at home noted that the show’s third contestant, Mike Tomani, had already incorrectly guessed the letter “T” before it was her turn.
In predictable fashion, it didn’t take long for Nease’s fumble to start making the rounds online.
“A new all-time horrible answer on #wheel,” one person said on X as they shared a clip of the Nease’s unfortunate moment which quickly went viral with over 1.6 million views.
“I was watching. Worst I’ve ever seen ‘live’ on TV. What a nerd,” another added.
A third noted, “Game shows are hard but yes that should’ve been gotten.”
After hearing Nease’s response, one fan remarked: “This lady just said ‘New York Cheesesteak’ on Wheel of Fortune. Sometimes I sell myself short when I say, ‘I wouldn’t do well on a game show.’ I take that back.”
The blunder also became a hot topic of discussion over on Reddit, where one fan called the miss “painful” to watch.
“I cringed so hard. Couldn’t look at her the rest of the episode out of second hand embarrassment,” a second person added with a third warning, “I don’t understand how… I’m still in disbelief. She’ll never be able to show her face in New York or Philadelphia from now on.”
“I’m still chuckling to myself. It was the pause after ‘cheese’ where she realized steak didn’t fit that really did me in,” a fourth viewer wrote.
This was just the latest in a long line of recent gaffes on Wheel of Fortune.
In a Christmas-themed episode that aired last month, contestant Phil McManus was working to solve a puzzle in the “Same Letter” category with the answer almost already completed. As just two letters remained, host Ryan Seacrest asked McManus if he was ready to finish the board, which read “Chocolate, Chestnuts & Chi_ne_s,“ or spin the wheel.
Unwisely, McManus attempted to solve the three-word puzzle, answering, “Chocolate, Chestnuts and Chickens.” After his miss, Seacrest moved on to the next contestant, Matt Komma, who completed the answer correctly: “Chocolate, Chestnuts and Chimneys.”
McManus’ flop quickly made the rounds on social media, with Wheel fans ribbing him for his flub.
“That was my shopping list last weekend,” one fan joked on X, while another viewer weighed in on Instagram adding: “I was screaming at the TV.”
“When I think of chocolates and chestnuts, the next word I think of is chickens,” another person at home joked.
Before that, back in November, veteran police officer Will Jordan incorrectly guessed an answer in the “Phrase” category. Eager to go for a quick solve, Jordan looked at the puzzle board, which read “_ _ _e _ourse_f a roun_ of a_ _ _ause,” and blurted “Treat yourself a round of sausage.”
Seacrest quickly moved on to the next contestant, Kitina Thomas, who correctly answered, “Give yourself a round of applause.”
On social media, where clips of the segment racked up over eight million views after Barstool Sports’ X account reposted a video of Jordan’s answer, Wheel fans predicted he was “going down in TV history” following the slip-up.
“Will’s journey was truly inspiring,” one watcher wrote. “Years of school, life lessons, maybe even heartbreak … all culminating in the pinnacle of wisdom: ‘Treat yourself a round of sausage.’ Forget Shakespeare; this is the new poetry of our time.”
Afterwards, in an interview with Wheel social correspondent Maggie Sajak that was posted to Instagram, Jordan said his mind “just went blank” as he tried to solve the puzzle.
Last May, another contestant became an internet star after he gave an X-rated response to the game grid that had people at home in stitches.
With the puzzle board revealing the letters “_ _ _ _ I _ T _ e B _ _ t!,” Tavaris Williams immediately buzzed in blurting out his reply.
“Right in the butt!” he proudly exclaimed.
One person called it a “Wheel of Fortune clip you will be seeing many times throughout the rest of your life,” while another added, “I may be an 83-year-old man who watches Wheel of Fortune regularly, but moments like this are rare and make it all worth it.”