Wheel of Fortune viewers were left in disbelief after Pat Sajak accepted a contestant’s questionable answer during Tuesday’s (Oct. 19) episode.
While solving a crossword puzzle of compound words that began with “butter,” contestant Nadine Cedro guessed “nuts” when the answer was technically the singular “nut,” per Entertainment Weekly. Sajak quickly accepted the answer, much to the surprise of many viewers at home.
“We caught that and can’t believe Pat missed it!” one viewer wrote on X.
Many fans noted that this was a serious deviation from the show’s typical rules. “I remember him not accepting a pronunciation of ‘Seven swans a swimmin’ instead of swimming, and they won’t accept it if someone adds ‘and’ so why accept the added ‘s’??? I would have been livid as a contestant!” one fan remarked.
Others agreed, stating they felt Cedro “shouldn’t have won the round.”
Another viewer inferred that, while Sajak may have missed the mistake, it was likely noticed in post-production. “They simply missed it. It’s likely they realized in post, which would have been far too late, so they edited it so Pat gave her the win immediately to attempt to cover it up,” they wrote.
Fortunately for Cedro, she at least got to go home with $11,950.
This isn’t the first time Sajak caught some flack from fans for the decisions he’s made on the show. Last season, fans rallied around a contestant who missed out on $100,000 after she narrowly missed a puzzle.
The bonus category was, “What Are You Doing?” While the correct answer was “Just Winging It,” it sounded like college student Alexa Hoekstra had guessed “Just Winning It.” Though even fans at home debated what she had exactly said, many felt she had been “robbed.”
“I’m absolutely certain that the first thing she said was ‘Just winging It.’ You owe that young woman an apology and $100,000!” one viewer tweeted.
Despite the misunderstanding, Hoekstra still went home with $19,950.
Wheel of Fortune airs on weeknights at 7:30/6:30c. Find local listings on the Wheel of Fortune website.