A “Wheel of Fortune” contestant became an internet sensation on Thursday night after coming up with the answer to a silly, adult puzzle that had audience members and viewers laughing out loud.
In the opening segment of the game show, participants were asked to solve a phrase puzzle as quickly as possible as letters appeared on the board.
When contestant Tabaris confidently hit the buzzer and solved the puzzle, part of a four-word phrase was written on the board: “_ _ _ _ _N T_E _ _ _T!”
“The middle of your ass?” Tavares blurted out, causing the other contestants and the audience to erupt in surprise and laughter.
“What?” one female player gasped.
“No,” longtime host Pat Sajak replied calmly.
As the audience still laughed, contestant Blake got the answer right: “This is awesome!”
Footage of the gaffe quickly went viral on social media.
“This is a classy show,” tweeted Phillip Lewis.
“Wheel of Fortune is now NSFW,” another user wrote.
Another person called the ridiculous answer “one of the best guesses of all time.”
“Tavaris will never forget this. Too many jokes. Forever,” one viewer wrote.
Many people pointed out that “right” has five letters, not four.
“If you can’t spell ‘correct’ I don’t think you’re going to get very far on Wheel of Fortune,” one user joked.
“Yes, we saw the Wheel of Fortune clip. Please stop sending it to us,” the Merriam-Webster X account posted.
The gaffe came just weeks before Sajak was set to step down as game show host after 43 years.
His final episode will air on June 7, and he will be replaced by Ryan Seacrest in the fall.
