‘Wheel of Fortune’ Controversy as Contestant Wins $70,000, But Fans Think She Said Wrong Word

Wheel of Fortune fans went on a full investigation after a contestant won $70,000 on the bonus puzzle, but they think she said the wrong word.

Caroline Smith, from Boston, Massachusetts, was the contestant in question. She makes charcuterie boards for every event she goes to and documents them on social media.

She played against Veronica Thomas, from Clinton, Maryland, and Bob Hagh, from Manchester, Connecticut. He solved both toss-ups on June 1.

Both Hagh, a science and weather nerd who wants to go tornado chasing one day, and Thomas, a travel and music lover, guessed multiple letters before landing on “Lose a Turn” and “Bankrupt.” Smith solved “In-Flight Entertainment.” This gave her $1,000.

Smith jumped into the lead with $18,850 when she solved the “Before & After” puzzle — “Slept Like a Baby Back Rib.” She put so much money in her bank because she landed on the $3,500 wedge and had four “Bs” resulting in a lot of money.

During the prize puzzle, Smith guessed three letters before trying to solve “It’s Almost Saturday.” She was wrong, though, so the turn moved to Hagh, who correctly solved “It’s Almost Summertime.” He won a trip to Mount Rushmore, which gave him $10,998.

Hagh solved two of the three triple toss-ups. Smith solved the third. Thomas finally got on the board when she solved the final puzzle — “Throwback Thursday.” This gave her $3,000.

Hagh went home with $14,998. Smith had $20,850 and advanced to the Bonus Round.

She chose  “What Are you Wearing?” and brought her mom, Mary, with her. Smith was given “R,S,T,L,N, and E” and chose “C,P,H, and O.”

The puzzle looked like “_ _ _ _   _ _R  P_R_ _.” “Something parka,” Smith said as the clock counted down.

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She then appeared to answer “Full-Fur Parka,” and host Ryan Seacrest said it was correct. However, when the puzzle appeared on the board, it said “Faux-Fur Parka.”

“What? Come on? No! How in the world did you get that?” Seacrest asked. There was $50,000 in the envelope, so Smith went home with $70,850.

“How did you do that so fast?” the host asked.

“Oh, I have no idea,” Smith replied.

Reddit users thought Smith said “Full” instead of “Faux” and she shouldn’t have won. “I swear she said FULL fur parka!” one said.

“I replayed this sooooo many times! Listening with my eyes closed, she definitely said ‘full.’ To verify, I rewatched her in the corner on mute, and her mouth says FULL, not FAUX!” another replied.

“Yeah, I watched it several times, telling myself she was about to say ‘full’ and that’s what I heard, then telling myself she was about to say ‘faux’ and my brain immediately said no,” a third added.

“100% she did,” a fan said.

“She said ‘full’ fur parka, not ‘faux’, right? I rewound to make sure,” one fan said.

“She definitely said full,” a Reddit user commented.

“I’m glad this thread confirmed that I am not losing my mind. Definitely heard her say full. Lol,” a fan said.

“There is not a doubt in my mind that she said Full and NOT Faux…do you think they go back to check?” one last fan asked.

What did you hear her say? Let us know in the comments.

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