“SHE WON A CAR… AND FANS STILL SAID SHE GOT SHORTCHANGED.” Wheel of Fortune contestant Chelsea Calabro solved her Bonus Round puzzle, celebrated with Ryan Seacrest, and drove away with a brand-new Ford Maverick. Sounds like a dream ending — except many viewers weren’t celebrating. After the show recently handed out prizes worth $40,000, $60,000, and even a $70,000 sports car, some fans blasted the $29,840 vehicle as “cheap,” arguing Chelsea deserved a much bigger reward for a winning Bonus Round performance. Now viewers are debating whether a car should ever be worth less than the show’s standard cash prizes.
‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Blast Show’s ‘Cheap’ Prizes After Contestant Wins Car
Wheel of Fortune fans were not happy with a contestant’s car win because they thought the vehicle was cheap. This came just after the game show gave away a $70,000 sports car.
Chelsea Calabro, from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, solved both toss-ups on May 26. She has been dancing since she was a child and loves all different types, but says her favorite is Hula.
Calabro played against Jimmil Hawkins, from Salt Lake City, Utah, and Brian Kinslow, from Narberth, Pennsylvania. Hawkins loves auto racing and watching old game shows with his family.
With only two letters left, Kinslow, who runs a sales company, obtained the wild card and solved “Planes, Plateaus, & Prairies.” This gave him $2,900.
Hawkins got on the board and took the lead with $4,000 when he solved “Declaration of Independence.” Calabro won a trip to Barbados when she solved “Keep a Journal.” This put her in the lead with $12,132.
Kinslow solved two of three triple toss-ups while Hawkins solved the third. Calabro solved the final puzzle — “The Middle Ground” — for an additional $8,500. This gave her a total of $20,632.
“Tell me ‘Where on Earth’ the middle ground is???” a Reddit user asked.
“Came here for this comment. What the heck is that?” another replied.
“Yeah. I didn’t care for that,” a third wrote.
Hawkins left with $6,000. Kinslow took home $6,900.
Calabro chose “Living Thing” for her Bonus Round category. She brought her husband, Troy, with her.
Wheel of Fortune gave out the usual “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” Calabro rounded out the puzzle with “D,H,C, and A.”
“_ _ _ANA” was what the puzzle looked like after all of the letters were revealed. She thought for a second before guessing “Iguana.”
Calabro was right, and she screamed as host Ryan Seacrest joined in celebration and bobbed up and down as he revealed the envelope.
The contestant won the Ford Maverick XL, worth $29,840. This gave her a combined total of $50,472.
Fans thought the car Calabro won was cheap compared to the normal cash prizes of typically $40,000 and above. “Can we please, PLEASE stop offering cars that are way below the minimum? Pretty please? With sugar on top?” a Reddit user said.
“They went pretty cheap on the vehicle,” another commented.
“Really unfair,” a fan wrote.
“That was an easy puzzle,” another said.
Do you think the car was cheap? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock