The game show Wheel of Fortune is very popular in Alabama. Many people are devoted to watching the show every evening. The show has been on the air since 1975 and shows no signs of slowing down. You hardly hear of anything on Wheel of Fortune that would anger many fans and get their blood boiling. But, when a contestant somehow mispronounced a word it left many fans irate and demanding answers. Contestant Renee Durette was ruled incorrect when she failed to pronounce the “G” in the phrase “Seven Swans-A-Swimming.” The gaffe cost Durette nearly $4,000, and she went on to lose the game and a chance of extra winnings in the bonus round. Watch the video below, I thought she pronounced the phrase correctly.
In the above video, you can tell there was confusion from Vanna White, the audience, and even the other contestants. Vanna had to stand there before the “V” in the phrase would light up. In no surprise, fans took to Twitter and other social media sites to complain about the ruling and to ask “Wheel” to give Durette a second chance. However, former “Wheel” contestants are also speaking out, saying that players are warned before show tapings that answers must be read exactly as they appear on the puzzle board to be ruled correct. And the show has said the answer was illegal as it was spoken in vernacular.
This is not the first time something like this has happened on Wheel of Fortune. On another episode, contestant Michael Rufus, won $4600 when he solved “Hickory-Smoked Country Ham.” But when he says the phrase, he appears to miss the letter “D” in the word “smoked.” Watch the video below.
For a show that seems to take pride in demanding that contestants say the puzzles correctly, it seems baffling that the judges made contradictory rulings on two puzzles during the same taping session. By the way, Wheel of Fortune typically tapes a week’s worth of episodes in one day. Renee Durette has already come out and said that she feels the right decision was made to reject her answer on the show. Game show contestants have to sign clear, iron clad agreements nowadays that CLEARLY outline the rules of the game and they have to agree to them to be eligible to be a contestant. So I am guessing the judges caught the bad ruling from Michael Rufus and they decided they could not let Renee Durette’s answer go through.
This is not the first time a bad call was made on a game show. Remember the Match Game School Riot episode. This was bad!
I guess we will keep seeing bad calls made from time to time on game shows. But I’m sorry, I felt like Renee Durette was robbed only because of a southern accent.
Related articles
- numerology for Renee Durette (newsnumerology.com)
- Report: Wheel of Fortune controversy (wtkr.com)
- Pronunciation Nazi Pat Sajak Steals Thousands of Dollars from Wheel of Fortune Contestant Over Dropped ‘G’ (gawker.com)
- The Speechless Christmas Gift (geekalabama.com)
Categories: Interesting Stuff, News Talk Stuff
My family watches wheel almost every night. We have seen more than one player lose a round because of mispronunciation or dropping a letter. Whether or not we agree with this rule doesn’t matter. The fact is that this IS the rule and as you said it is spelled out specifically to contestants prior to the game. I can understand how this could seem unfair to the “casual” Wheel viewer, but those of us who watch every night have seen this happen on more than one occasion. In my humble opinion the contestant screwed it up plain and simple. Hats off to Wheel for sticking to its guns amidst a ton of bad publicity that is unwarranted.
I loved Wheel of Fortune as a kid, our family would shout all the answers from the sofa. A bit of nostalgia, ah! 🙂
Yes, Wheel has not talked about this and are sticking to their guns. Past Wheel contestants have come out and said they are clearly told to say the puzzle correctly or they will not solve it. This has happened before on Wheel and it I am sure it will happen again. Thanks for commenting!
Yes I like watching Wheel of Fortune and I watch it almost every evening. I wonder if this news making will result in more people watching Wheel of Fortune.
No doubt it will. News always provokes curiosity!
Yes, it does all the time!