Ryan Seacrest just can’t seem to stay out of his own way, as he has once again found himself in hot water with Wheel of Fortune fans. This time, he made another controversial ruling that some fans are saying Pat Sajak never would have done.
Seacrest Makes Controversial Ruling
Earlier this week, one of the contestants was Arzice Salonga, a law student and single mom from Medina, Ohio. During the game’s first toss up round worth $1,000, the category for the puzzle was “Event.” When Salonga buzzed in to answer, the two-word puzzle read, “A F _ I _ _ N / _ A _ A _ _.”
Salonga, who is a former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader, correctly answered “African Safari.” However, she pronounced the latter word “sa-FAIR-ee.” This led to Seacrest ruling against her. Contestant Brian Nelson then buzzed in and solved the puzzle by simply saying “African Safari.”
“Yes, safari is the way you have to say that,” Seacrest said as Salonga looked visibly shocked. “I just checked with our judges to make sure.”
Check out the uncomfortable moment for yourself at the :45 second mark in the video below.
Fans immediately took to social media to blast Seacrest and take Salonga’s side.
“She was robbed IMO [in my opinion],” one fan commented. Another added, “Cmon, Wheel of Fortune judges. I knew what she meant when she said African ‘Safari’ that way.”
“Now they know good and well they should have given her ‘Sa-fair-ree’ yes it’s pronounced saFARi but still, slight cultural variation has been considered before,” a third Wheel of Fortune fan wrote.
Fans Blast Seacrest As ‘Lazy’ And ‘Annoying’
This comes one week after fans took to the social media site Reddit to vent their frustrations about Seacrest. One fan ripped into Seacrest for failing to properly guide contestants about the rules of the iconic game show, which is something Sajak made a priority.
“Ever since Ryan Seacrest took over for Pat Sajak, in recent episodes I’ve been watching, I’ve been discovering that Ryan has been forgetting to remind the player to dump the wild card after landing on bankrupt,” this fan lamented. “I’m not sure if he’s been forgetting too much or he’s just being lazy to remind the player.”
Another user was quick to agree.
“I think the more annoying thing is when he doesn’t remind them to call a letter before they solve in the last round when time is running out,” this user wrote. “Lady today lost out on $1,500 or so.”
The original poster replied, “That’s exactly how he is. I haven’t been too happy on how the season is going along. I would have to agree with you on why he doesn’t remind the player to call a letter when time runs short.”
“He has big shoes to fill, but he has even enormous shoes to fill,” the Reddit user added. “I understand he’s different but not in a way like that.”
Full Story: ‘Lazy’ And ‘Annoying’ – Why Some ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Want Ryan Seacrest Replaced
The latest incident this week will certainly do nothing to help Seacrest’s reputation with Wheel of Fortune fans. Only time will tell if he ever wins them over!
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