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Ryan Seacrest is only on his first season as the new host of Wheel of Fortune, but he is already skating on thin ice with some fans of the game show.
Seacrest, 49, is taking some heat after an incident that occurred during the Tuesday, November 26 episode of Wheel. Oleh Voloshyn, a contestant who could have easily won, ended up losing the game, and some fans believe that it’s all because of Seacrest’s lack of experience.
The debacle took place during the “Final Spin” puzzle in which the wheel landed on $5,000. This meant that the three-word “Event” puzzle would likely decide the winner of the game, as each consonant was worth $6,000.
After a few guesses from each player, the puzzle read, “TOUR_NG ‘A’ ‘_ _ _ N_R_’.” Instead of choosing another consonant and adding $6,000 to his $12,000, winning the game with $18,000, Oleh decided to solve the puzzle correctly as “TOURING A WINERY.” This left Oleh with $14,000 total, which was $176 short of his opponent’s $14,176 total.
Fans of the game show took to social media to share their thoughts on Oleh’s loss.
“If I’m Oleh, I’m upset at myself for not realizing the situation… I’m also angry at Ryan for not doing something that Pat always made a point to do in this exact situation. It’s not the host’s job to point those types of things out but Pat [Sajak] always tried so now we expect it,” wrote one user on Reddit, referring to the show’s former host of over 40 years.
A second user agreed and noted, “Pat would have reminded him to guess a letter before solving,” implying that Seacrest lacks the former host’s experience.
“Didn’t Pat used to say ‘do you want to guess a letter first?’,” asked a third Redditor while another added, “Ryan needs to start doing this.”
Despite receiving some grief from fans of late, many have been vocal about their support for the new host, one even praised him for his off-camera hosting abilities. Seacrest started his tenure as host of the beloved game show in September following Sajak’s exit.
