Wheel Of Fortune Contestant Receives Unexpected Prize After Episode Controversy
A Wheel of Fortune contestant ended up walking away with a major prize after losing it on a technicality on the actual game show
This article is more than 2 years old
For a game show that’s supposed to be fun, man does Wheel of Fortune ever play the stickler sometimes when it comes to contestant answers. There was yet another case recently of someone giving the correct answer to a puzzle, but losing on what feels like a pretty minor technicality. But what ended as a pretty heartbreaking and frustrating moment for a contestant is being made right, but not by Pat Sajak and company. Instead, Audi is stepping in and gifting a brand new car to a contestant who got gipped pretty hard.
Earlier in the week, Charlene Rubush was in the bonus round, vying for a brand new Audi Q3. She had the letters out in front of her with just a few to fill in in order to finish the puzzle. She worked through the different options and ultimately landed on the correct answer. But because she took a beat too long in stringing together the whole phrase, the Wheel of Fortune folks said it didn’t count and Rubush wasn’t awarded the car. Before we get to what Audi did, check out the video and tell me she shouldn’t have just won the car to start.
Ridiculous. Well, Audi saw it the same way and stepped in to make things right in a way that Wheel of Fortune didn’t want to. The car company announced via their Twitter account that they would be awarding Rubush the Q3 after all, seeing fit to make sure she didn’t lose out on the prize even though she solved the puzzle correctly. First, they let everyone know what they were doing and then they tracked her down via social media. A pretty remarkable story all things considered.
Regarding the Wheel of Fortune controversy, Tara Rush, the Chief Marketing Officer for Audi relayed to the New York Post, “In the spirit of the holidays, we are thrilled to gift Charlene with an all-new Audi Q3. It is the season of giving after all and, technicality or not, we are always eager to share a bit of Audi magic and cheer”. Look, Audi knows a marketing opportunity when they spot one and this was sure to get a pretty healthy run through the positive news cycle. Check it out:
Wheel of Fortune aficionados know that this is far from the first time a contestant has lost out on what appeared to be a correct answer. The judges on that show don’t mess around at all, and you better make sure your answer is 100% correct. About a month ago, a contestant removed the “S” from “craftsmanship” and the judges caught it. This had some fans up in arms over what felt like an innocent error.
And then there was another possible snafu on Wheel of Fortune when a final answer to a puzzle was “Young Jock”, which the contestant failed to get. But many fans pointed out this was a misspelling of the artist Yung Joc. If this was the case then the contestant wasn’t given a fair shake. Of course, Wheel of Fortune didn’t backtrack on that one either. At least Audi stepped in to save the day this time around.
