Christmas came early this year for those Wheel of Fortune fans who were hoping Santa would gift them one last fail before the holiday break.
In a festive episode that aired last week, 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.”
“Christmas theme(d) episode of Wheel of Fortune! And this was the guess by the contestant. Love Wheel of Fortune, but where do these contestants come from?” a third viewer asked.
“When I think of chocolates and chestnuts, the next word I think of is chickens,” another person at home joked.
One person wrote on Instagram that their reaction scared their pup. “I laughed so loud that my deaf dog jumped out of her bed,” they said.
McManus is just the latest in a long line of Wheel of Fortune contestants to go viral after flopping a seemingly easy answer on the long-running game show.
Last month, veteran police office 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 blunder.
“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.”
“Sausage is better than applause — he knows it. We all know it,” a second person cheered.
But not everyone was supportive. One social media user branded Jordan’s answer as the “all-time worst Wheel of Fortune performance in history.”
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.
“I tell you, when the lights are on, and you know, the stars and Ryan Seacrest, Vanna White, I just went blank. But if your dad in retirement is watching the show, maybe cracks a beer and gets a laugh, it was worth it,” he told Maggie, who is the daughter of former host Pat Sajak. “I’m sure I’m gonna have sausages in my locker and police car when I get back, so we’ll try and have some fun with it.”
Earlier this year, die-hard New Orleans Saints fan Candace from North Carolina needed to answer the three-word response to solve a bonus round puzzle in the “phrase” category.
With the board revealing the letters “P___ _i F_ll,” Candace guessed in vain, saying out loud, “Pain in Full” and “Pushing Full.”
After the 10-second timer ran out, the correct answer was revealed as “Paid in Full,” with then-host Pat Sajak teasing her: “You talked all around it.”
Predictably, Candace’s answer drew jeers on social media, with one person chiding her blown opportunity: “They are really trying to give it away on Pat’s final season.”
“SUPER EASY solve,” another wrote on YouTube. “C’mon now. REALLY?”
Back in 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.
“What?!” one of his fellow contestants exclaimed as the audience let out a collective gasp and laughed.
Williams’ blunder became an immediate sensation on social media, where his answer racked up millions of views and thousands of comments.
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,” one user wrote on X.
The gaffe led to Williams appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “Pat was the best! He made me feel so great about that at the break,” Williams said. “He said, ‘You know, we’ll find a tactful way of editing it. I don’t know how, but we’ll do it.’”