It was the comeback that had ‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans on the edge of their seats — a player who fought his way back from near defeat and stood just one puzzle away from victory. But in a devastating twist of fate, the final board slipped through his fingers, and with it, a jaw-dropping $50,000 prize.Viewers were left heartbroken as cheers turned to gasps, proving once again that on ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ triumph and tragedy can happen in the very same breath.

The contestant, Erwin Paminiano, was stumped by the Bonus Round puzzle, but took the loss in stride.

Screenshot showing Erwin Paminiano attempting his Bonus Round loss (Cover image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)

Fans of “Wheel of Fortune” sympathized with a contestant after he lost out on taking home the $50,000 prize over a tough Bonus Round puzzle. The contestant, Erwin Paminiano, who made it to the finale after making one of the strongest comebacks on the show, was stumped in front of his mother by the final puzzle, “A Booming Voice.” While the player took the loss in sporting spirit, fans were upset at the puzzle and sorry for the player.

In the episode, Paminiano from North Las Vegas went up against Sydney Morgan from Rustburg, Virginia, and Dimsey Brown from Little Rock, Arizona. He got off to a bumpy start with nothing to his name, as Brown racked up thousands of dollars. By the end of the PR round, Brown had won $18,499 in cash and a trip to Canada, while Paminiano had yet to get on the board. However, in the Mystery Round, he mounted a strong comeback to win $11,000 and a Trafalgar tour of Spain. In the following rounds, Brown and Paminiano went toe-to-toe, taking points off of each other. In the end, Paminiano got the best of his competitor with $25,150 in cash while Brown came in second with $23,449, according to Andy Nguyen’s blog.

Screenshot showing Paminiano at the wheel alongside Seacrest (Image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)
Advancing to the Bonus Round, Paminiano chose the category, “Thing,” and joined the host, Ryan Seacrest, at the wheel. He brought his mother, Apolonia, to the stage after surprising her earlier in the morning with the news of his being on the show. After picking out his Golden Envelope, he was faced with a long three-word puzzle on the board. With the show’s standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, E,” on the board, the player chose the additional letters, “D, C, M, and A. With this, the final puzzle read, A  _ _ _M_N_  _ _ _CE.”

Screenshot showing the Bonus Round puzzle (Image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)
As Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, Paminiano looked stumped. While he got the last word, “voice,” correct, he was off by one for the second word. He yelled out a few guesses like “A Calming Voice,” “A Soothing Voice,” but none of them were correct. After co-host Vanna White uncovered the answer, “A Booming Voice,” Seacrest revealed that the player had lost the opportunity to add $50,000 to their prize money.

While Paminiano shrugged off the loss, fans weren’t happy about it. “Oof, that was a tough one. I didn’t get it either. Don’t worry, Erwin, you did your best, and you already have a lot of money and prizes to look forward to. Good work, buddy!” wrote @Garrison_the_Barbarian on the show’s YouTube clip. “Yeah, that was impossible with his letter calls,” suggested @Matthew6418. “He needed the letter O to have a chance to solve. Nevertheless, congrats on your wins. Hopefully, we will have a winner next episode. 50 grand was toughie,” explained @robertclimate1563.