‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Will Freak Out Over Show’s Shocking “Mistake”

‘WoF’ Made a Surprising “Mistake” on the Air Sony Pictures

It’s not often the folks working on Wheel of Fortune make a mistake. But people are human, and a tiny error did happen, according to TV Insider.

Per the report, the incident occurred throughout two episodes during the first week of December. During the December 3 taping of the hit game show, folks watched Patty Spano make her way to the WoF bonus round with $42,400 in winnings. With a puzzle that was in the “place” category, she had to fill in the blanks for the phrase “B _ R_ER _ _ _ NT.”

As Patty guessed “Burger Joint,” host Ryan Seacrest announced she’d figured it out and won a 2025 Ford Explorer Active as part of her $87,605 total prize. What’s more, show presenter Jim Thorton further confirmed her win by saying, “You’re cooking with gas in this brand-new Ford Explorer Active!”

Cut to the December 5 taping of Wheel of Fortune, and contestant Jeff Richardson also claimed victory as the winner of the game. As he played the show’s bonus round with $16,650 in cash, he had to figure out the puzzle that was part of the “phrase” category. With “O_ T O_ _O_NDS” lit up on the puzzle board, Jeff guessed “Out of Bounds” in one go.

Ryan again revealed Jeff had won a Ford Explorer Active (and $61,855 in total earnings). And to everyone’s surprise, Jim used the exact same phrase from two episodes before: “You’re cooking with gas in this brand-new Ford Explorer Active!”

Upon seeing Jeff’s winning round online, it didn’t take long for some eagle-eyed folks to pick up on the same phrasing error — and how the show gave away two cars in a row.

“2 car wins in the same week?! Way to go Jeff!” one person wrote under the YouTube clip. “Second car win of the new season!” another exclaimed. “Another car winner!! That’s how you end the week Wheel!” a different viewer added.

Well, this is definitely one cool way to celebrate the holiday season! Now, we ask you: did you catch this small blunder, too?