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Wheel of Fortune contestants sometimes make mistakes on air, but one contestant’s guesses during the other night’s Bonus Round puzzle on the beloved game show might take the cake.
On the Friday, November 8 episode of Wheel, contestant Phoebe Huynh went up against Lisa Spruill and Jayden Johnson. Huynh, who shared that she moved to the United States when she was eight years old and learned how to speak English by watching the game show, pulled ahead of her opponents early on and went on to win the episode with $19,200. However, things started to get serious for Huynh during the Bonus Round.
Huynh picked “Food and Drink” as the category for the round and then selected the letters D, P, H, and O. The two-word puzzle read, “_ _ N D _ E D / _ R _ _ T,” with ten seconds on the timer. Huynh guessed, “Sun Dried Grape” first and then tried again with, “Sun Dried Bird,” and finally she asked, “Sun Dried Cats?” as her time ran out.
WireImage/John Nacion
Host Ryan Seacrest revealed the actual answer and quipped, “It’s not a ‘Sun Dried Bird,’ it is a ‘Candied Fruit.'” Huynh shrugged as she responded, “Well, I don’t eat candied fruit,” to which Seacrest jokingly asked, “Do you eat sun dried birds?” The contestant then replied, “No, I’m vegetarian!” Seacrest later showed Huynh the prize she missed out on: $75,000.
Despite taking home a sizable $19,200 at the end of the night, Huynh’s guesses during the Bonus Round went viral, and fans have taken to the comments section of the video on YouTube to talk about them.
“I kept getting frustrated when she was repeating ‘Sundried,’ she knows there’s no ‘S’ & ‘R’ in the first word,” one viewer pointed out. A second wrote, “SUN-DRIED BIRDS? I wasn’t expecting that,” while a third asked, “Sundried cats? Needed a good laugh. How did she even win?” One user on Reddit added, “Truly the craziest bonus round I’ve watched live. ‘I don’t eat candied fruit!’ was the cherry on top.”
Seacrest took over as host for Wheel of Fortune in September after longtime host Pat Sajak stepped down after 41 years in June. Sajak, plans to return as host for one more season of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune which is set to air in 2025.
Wheel airs weeknights on ABC.
