Having TV cameras pointed at you can do all sorts of unexpected things to a person, like causing them to freeze or blank out and make silly mistakes that they wouldn’t otherwise make.
I’m not necessarily saying that’s what happened to Wheel of Fortune contestant Vivian Tran during Monday night’s episode of the show — though I’m sure if she’d been watching at home, she might have been one of the many people who were screaming at the screen “come on!!” in response to her whiffing on the puzzle.
Furthermore, Tran getting a single word wrong in her guess cost her a heartbreaking prize: $1 million. The puzzle category was “What Are You Doing?” And the puzzle itself, after Tran had guessed a few letters, read:
“_ _ _ ERING S_ME HELP”
Ryan Seacrest, in his second week as Pat Sajak’s replacement for Wheel of Fortune hosting duties, admitted that even he was nervous. “My heart is racing. This is a first for me,” he told Tran, going on to explain that the show had swapped out the round’s usual $100,000 prize envelope with a $1 million envelope.
Tran threw out a series of guesses. “Wondering some help? Answering some help? Finding some help? Looking around for some help? Boundary for help?”
The correct answer was “Offering some help,” which is kind of one of those unusual phrases you almost never use — so I get maybe why it escaped Tran. She understandably put her head in her hands when Seacrest revealed the $1 million she could have won. Having said that, though, at least she could still leave Wheel of Fortune with a smile on her face:
She walked away with not only $27,300, but also a trip to Europe. Not too shabby.
