‘Wheel of Fortune’ Player Wins $66,000 by Cracking a Tough Puzzle
Audiences of Wheel of Fortune felt uncomfortable this week following a murder-related joke made by host Ryan Seacrest on the hit game show. The remark occurred during his conversation with contestant Robin, an avid true crime enthusiast hailing from Mt. Prospect, Illinois.
Robin, a thrifting aficionado who boasts about cracking cases just 15 minutes into a podcast or documentary, won the initial toss-up for $1,000. During the March 9 broadcast, she faced off against Jeremy Soria of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Kim Fasano of Stony Point, New York. Robin subsequently won the second toss-up as well, pushing her initial earnings to $3,000.
Fasano, the operator of a pizza club, made her mark by guessing “Sweet, Salty, Sour, Savory” to win $1,800. She then took the lead with $5,200 by accurately guessing “My Nickname in Grade School.” However, Robin later reclaimed the top spot by solving “Soaking Up Some Rays,” winning a Mexican vacation and boosting her total score to $21,050.
Soria eventually got on the board by answering two out of the three Triple Toss-ups correctly, wrapping up his appearance with $11,600 after figuring out the last puzzle, “Going to Pilates.” Fasano finished the game with $7,200, leaving Robin as the ultimate victor with her $21,050, which advanced her to the Bonus Round under the “Phrase” category.
The controversy sparked during the interview segment of the Bonus Round. When Seacrest inquired about the most recent mystery Robin had figured out, she referenced a Dateline episode about a vanished young woman murdered by her boyfriend. Seacrest reacted with a cautionary quip: “Be careful of those boyfriends. Watch out!” He proceeded to ask Robin’s twin sister, Rosalyn, whether she was dating anyone. Upon her answering “No” and jokingly wiping her forehead in relief, Seacrest replied, “Smart.”
This banter immediately sparked backlash on the internet. Commenters on Reddit labeled the quip “inappropriate” and in “bad taste,” pointing out that making light of an actual homicide was disrespectful to the victims and their loved ones. “They really should have cut that part out — Ryan shouldn’t have mentioned it at all,” one viewer stated. Others echoed this sentiment, pointing out that treating true crime tragedies merely as amusement crosses a boundary.
Still, not every viewer took offense. Several fans advised against making a mountain out of a molehill, reminding people that it was just a playful interaction on a television game show.
Robin proceeded to triumph in her Bonus Round by solving the puzzle “He is Beaming With Joy,” taking home an extra $45,000. This brought her spectacular grand total for the evening to $66,050.
This broadcast highlighted how a wholesome family program can ignite controversy when delicate subjects intersect with television banter.