A devoted Beyoncé fan walked into Wheel of Fortune with a chance to win a staggering $69,000, but one bizarre final puzzle suddenly turned the entire episode into instant controversy. Fans watching at home were left furious after the contestant froze on what many are now calling one of the “weirdest” and most frustrating bonus-round solves of the Ryan Seacrest era, while social media exploded with accusations that the puzzle itself felt confusing, unfair, and almost impossible to guess under pressure. Now viewers are replaying the painful moment nonstop as debate erupts over whether the contestant truly blew the win — or whether Wheel of Fortune set them up to fail from the start.
That was tough! A Wheel of Fortune contestant lost out on taking home $69,000 on an “extremely hard” bonus puzzle. Fans thought the puzzles have been “weird” lately.
Alicia Cantrell, from Seattle, Washington, solved the first toss-up after both of her opponents guessed the wrong phrase on May 13. She is a special needs school bus driver who knows all of the kids’ names on the bus.
Cantrell played against Jefferson Knapp, from El Dorado, Kansas, and Candace Brown, from Atlanta, Georgia. Brown, a runner and Beyoncé fan, solved the second toss-up.
Brown and Cantrall took turns guessing letters for “Soothing Spa Serenity,” but it was Cantrall who guessed it. She put $7,050 in her bank.
During the next round, Knapp, a children’s author, landed on the $1 million wedge and then shortly landed on Bankrupt, which meant he had to give it up, after guessing a few letters. Brown landed on Bankrupt, so the turn moved to Cantrall, who solved “Headliners & Opening Acts.” She had the lead with $10,600.
For the prize puzzle, Knapp landed on Lose a Turn while Brown went Bankrupt again. Cantrall guessed a letter that wasn’t in the puzzle, so the turn moved back to Knapp. He lost a turn again, so Brown solved “Chartering a Yacht.” She won a trip to Italy, putting $18,599 in her bank.
Brown solved two of the three triple toss-ups. Knapp finally got on the board when he solved the third one. Brown added to her lead when she solved the final puzzle — “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.”
She advanced to the Bonus Round with $28,999. Cantrall had $10,600. Knapp left with $2,000.
Brown chose “Place” for her category. Wheel of Fortune gave her “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” She rounded out her puzzle with “P,H,C, and A.”
The puzzle then looked like “S_ _ _R_ _A.” The game show contestant didn’t guess anything as the clock counted down. The puzzle was “Suburbia.”
There was $40,000 in the envelope, which would have given her $68,999. She will return on Friday with the week’s winner to try in the drawing to win a car chosen by Jay Leno.
WOF fans thought the bonus puzzle was “extremely hard.” “I think Suburbia was extremely hard, knowing most people don’t pick the U,” a Reddit user said.
“Anybody else think the categories/puzzles have been super weird lately?” another asked.
“Lately? I think so for a long time now. Some of the prize puzzles were downright odd. Maybe a bit trendy, for my age,” one last fan said.
Could you solve the bonus puzzle? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock