Pat Sajak got ‘testy’ with ‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant after she ‘blamed’ him for loss
Sassy Sajak strikes again.
“Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak, 77, who has become notorious for his blunt comebacks, lobbied yet another verbal bomb at a contestant this week after she criticized one of the show’s puzzles.
During the bonus round, player Jill tried to guess the phrase on the letter board with the category, “What Are You Doing?”
The “Wheel of Fortune” letter board puzzle read, “_ _ _ C _ N _ _ _ R _ _ _ N _ _ N,” after Jill chose the letters “C, M, H, A,” which added on to the provided letters of “RSTLNE.”
Jill tried to solve the puzzle by saying, “Blocking our… score… hmm… Working our… ahh no!”
Once the buzzer rang, the answer to the puzzle was revealed as “Voicing our opinion.”
After failing to provide the right answer – and losing a chance to win $40,000 – Jill complained, “What kind of puzzle is that?”
Sajak quipped, “It’s a puzzle you didn’t solve.”
Perhaps poking fun at his own infamous attitude, Sajak then said, “It’s getting testy here on Christmas.”
At the end of the episode, Sajak tried to make light of the matter and jokingly gave a recap of what happened.
“You had a puzzle that you think you should have solved, and you didn’t,” he said to Jill. “And then she blamed me during [the] commercial [break].”
Jill, who was standing next to him, then laughed at the legendary host’s remarks.
Sajak, who has hosted the show since 1981 and announced his retirement after 41 years in June, has been criticized by viewers for being “rude” to contestants.
In the past, viewers online have slammed him as being “cold-blooded,” and “an a – – hole.”
“Wheel of Fortune” fans have also said that he is “belittling and insulting” contestants.
In May 2023, he snapped at a contestant for continually answering puzzles incorrectly, asking the woman “Why are you bothering?”
Earlier that same month, Sajak told a fan-favorite contestant “don’t ever do it again,” after the 22-year-old grabbed the envelope in the game show’s bonus round.
After the current season ends, Sajak will pass the torch to Ryan Seacrest, who will take over as host.
