After the three players -- Laura Machado Christopher Coleman , Thomas Lipscomb - guessed incorrect phrases for a puzzle, fans called them out. Although the answer was "another feather in our cap", the group still struggled to solve the seemingly easy puzzle.
Machado for her part guessed "another bird in your hat", "another bird in your lap", and "another bird in your map", but never got the right answer. Coleman failed repeatedly to pick the letters in the puzzle. After initially landing on "bankrupt" as well as "lose a turn," Lipscomb eventually solved the puzzle.
After the episode aired, Twitter users poked fun at contestants. "God save us all," Josh Gad wrote. Another social media user referred to the segment as "the dumbest two minutes of Wheel of Fortune History."
The players' defense was amidst the backlash. He tweeted Wednesday, March 2: "It always hurts me when nice folks come on our show and play a game, win some money, maybe fulfill a lifetime dream, and then are subject to online ridicule whenever they make a mistake, or something goes wrong." "Last night's Feather in your cap puzzle was an example of this. It seems unbelievable that they couldn’t solve it. But, I was there in real-time.
The host of the game show noted that contestants were shocked when they saw "feather inside your hat" incorrect.
Imagine you're on national television and suddenly you get thrown a curve. You start worrying about your appearance and wondering where the feather is. He continued, "You start flailing about looking for synonyms for hat" and you continue to do so. You want to crawl in a hole when you have it solved. I have been praised for keeping it together and not laughing at the players. The truth is that I only want to help them get through it and to convince them that these things do happen to bright people.
Sajak then attacked viewers who mocked the players on the Internet.
"But mocking them online, calling them names?" He shared that these are people who are in a difficult situation and they deserve to be appreciated. "A good-natured laugh is one thing. They even laughed at themselves. Let's not forget to give them some grace. You won't know how much it's different in the studio unless you are there.
Sajak admitted that he sometimes teases participants but said, "When things go wrong, they feel for me, and I try and heal the wounds on camera or off."
He said, "So, yeah. It was an oddly amusing puzzle, and it's okay to have a good time with it." Keep your heart open. You might be there one day. No one wants to be the trendiest on Twitter."
Wheel of Fortune is broadcast weeknights. Look for local listings.
