A Wheel of Fortune contestant has left the live audience shocked after her wildly inaccurate guess of the final three remaining letters in a puzzle.
On Friday's (March 3) episode of the hit game show, a vacation to Croatia and a staggering $1 million dollars were on the line, and all that stood between contestant Micki and the prize was three letters.
The woman from Lousiana had the live studio audience at the edge of their seats as she was instructed by longtime host Pat Sajak to pick another letter.
Under the category "Thing," a clue on the board read: "A ROARING FIRE IN THE FIRE _ _ A _ E," and the unsolved word was clearly "FIREPLACE".
Watch the moment below:However, Micki left fans astounded when she asked the 76-year-old host to put an "S" on the board, which set off the incorrect-answer buzzer. "You got the reaction. No 'S,' I’m sorry," Sajak said of the crowd's disappointment.
Viewers of the long-running show took to their social media to express their astonishment over what could have been an effortless win for the contestant.
One person wrote: "$7,600 in the bank, million dollar piece secured, trip to Croatia on the line and she chose an….S."
Another user said: "That is one of the most painful “S” calls ever! #WheelOfFortune"
A third person commented: "Oh, Micki why'd you guess. Why’d you guess a f***ing S? Oh, Micki. Oh, oh, oh, Micki," in the tune of the hit Toni Basil song, 'Hey, Mickey.'
A fourth remarked: "The Million Dollar Wedge, the Wild Card, the XL wedge, AND a chance to get Croatia, but couldn't get 'Fireplace.' I'd never want to leave the house ever again."
Meanwhile, one viewer referenced another outlandish mishap that occurred recently, when 10th-grader contestant Khushi actually had to guess the letter 'S' to crack the puzzle correctly.
Instead, she guessed a 'G,' making her final answer "Fregh Tropical Fruit," rather than "Fresh Tropical Fruit," which meant she missed out on a vacation to the tropical island of Antigua.
"Wheel of Fortune poll: Worse flub in recent memory. A) Fregh B) Fireplace. I’d go B since it changed the entire game," they said, to which someone else commented: "The fregh tropical fruit one also changed the game."
Khushi's answer was so shocking that she evoked a gasp from the live audience. She soon realized her mistake mere seconds before the buzzer went off but it was too late.
Another contestant named Juliana capitalized on the error and solved the puzzle as soon as she could. She then earned the opportunity to go to the Caribbean island and $650.
After the teenager got the letter wrong, Sajak addressed the elephant in the room and stated that sometimes contestants can sometimes forget the answer, even when it appears clear to viewers.
"You know when that happens and you’re sitting at home saying, 'How in the world can that happen' you know, sometimes it is a word that just doesn’t want to come into focus for you," he said.
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