It’s hard to say which is more entertaining—epic game show wins…or hilarious game show fails. Wheel of Fortune has provided us plenty of both over the years, and this time, it delivered a funny defeat that just so happened to be holiday themed.
During the beloved game show’s Dec. 17 episode, a contestant named Phil McManus hailing from Palmer, Massachusetts, attempted to solve a puzzle in “Same Letter” category, with the board reading “Chocolate Chestnuts & Chi_ne_s.”
Declining to buy an “I,” McManus decided to go for gold and guessed “Chocolates, chestnuts and chickens.” And while I suppose you can enjoy chicken on Christmas, this was not the correct answer. Not to mention the “E” and “N” would have to be in a different spot. But hey, our eyes play tricks on us when under pressure!
This set up another contestant to name the correct answer (“Chocolates, chestnuts & chimneys”) and for Wheel of Fortune fans to have a field day.
It ain’t a proper Christmas without poultry!, one person joked.
Another quipped., “That was my shopping list last weekend,” someone
Still another person said.“When I think of chocolates and chestnuts, the next word I think of is chickens.”
Meanwhile, someone on Instagram shared, “I laughed so loud that my deaf dog jumped out of her bed,”
Someone else asked,“Love Wheel of Fortune but where do these contestants come from?”
But again, we all make silly mistakes when we’re nervous. This moment actually harkens back to another puzzle solving mishap that happened only a month prior. Instead of guessing “Give yourself a round of applause,” the contestant, named Will, guessed, “Treat yourself a round of sausage.”
In a postmortem interview, he shared, “I tell you, when the lights are on, and you know, the stars and Ryan Seacrest, Vanna White, I just went blank.”
Still, he was able to have a good laugh about it, and hopefully McManus was too. And of course, it’s not gonna keep us from screaming at the TV at home.
