Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek’s network of contributors
Ryan Seacrest is getting some negative attention after a Wheel of Fortune contestant’s answer was ruled correct by the host despite adding extra words to their response.
The 50-year-old host confused viewers of the game show on Friday, January 10, after contestant Kiana Moreland attempted to solve a puzzle during the Express Round of the game show under the “Living Things” category.
The puzzle in question read: “A A R D V A R K S / A N D / A N _ E _ _ _ E S.” When entering her answer, the contestant asked, “Is it aardvarks and antelopes?” Seacrest paused for a moment and then declared that Moreland’s response was correct.
Fans of the show argued that the addition of “is it” to her answer made it incorrect. Some viewers took to the Wheel of Fortune Reddit sub to discuss the ruling.
One user made a post about the ordeal and wrote, “I thought the whole ‘adding any extra words’ thing was universal to all puzzles,” before asking, “Does this sort of thing happen often?” Fans of the game show responded to the post with their opinions.
“I’ve had the feeling that the Wheel and Jeopardy judges have both been a tiny bit more lenient ever since their new hosts have taken over. Just coincidental timing I imagine. People like to see other people win money, they may be giving people the benefit of the doubt,” wrote one fan. A second added, “I was waiting for Ryan to say, ‘Sorry, that is not correct,’ especially since he hesitated a few seconds before responding that it was a correct solve.”
A third fan looked into the official rules and wrote, “In all cases, the judges will try and give the ‘benefit of the doubt’ to the contestant solving the puzzle, taking into consideration speech impediments, regional dialects, nervous contestants, and studio conditions. Each case will be evaluated individually, and the decision of the judges will be final,” before adding, “I do not think the rest of the rules indicate that should have been taken, but if the judges say it’s fine, it’s fine.”
The host of the show was most recently blamed for costing a contestant $13K during an episode that aired on December 17. Wheel fans argued that Seacrest should have reminded the contestant that he could buy a vowel instead of guessing the puzzle incorrectly and losing out on potential winnings.
Seacrest took over as host of Wheel in September following Pat Sajak’s retirement after 41 years of hosting the game show.
