Wheel of Fortune Technicality Costs Woman Thousands

There's still fallout after a Maine woman lost a round on "Wheel of Fortune" because of a technicality.

Kristen Shaw lost $1,950 in cash and an $8,000 trip to Nashville becuase she added the word "and" when reading the answer to the puzzle.

Shaw inserted the "and," even though host Pat Sajak warned her just to read the words on the puzzle board.

According to the Bangor Daily News: "Kristen Shaw, a 26-year-old Bangor native and a graduate student at Husson University, appeared on “Wheel of Fortune” last Thursday and was doing well until the “crossword puzzle” challenge. In that challenge, the contestant must list the words that appear in the puzzle — in this case, four words: “right,” “football, “left” and “Sally.” Unfortunately, Shaw said, “Right, football, left and Sally.” Since she included the word “and,” Shaw lost around $2,000 in prize money, and a trip to Nashville valued at $8,000."

A few days after the taping, the contestant who did win, Bryan Idler of San Luis Obispo, California, reached out to Shaw and offered to write her a check for the $3,550 he won during that round. Shaw would not say one way or another whether she accepted the money, but did say she was touched by Idler’s gesture.

“I would prefer to leave that private, but I will say that Bryan is a very kind man, and it shows that there are some really wonderful people out there in the world,” she said."

Image courtesy Getty


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