LIVE TV NIGHTMARE: $100,000 Dream Crushed in Heart-Stopping ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Twist! She was on the verge of glory, just one step away from clutching $100,000—the ultimate prize every contestant fantasizes about. The lights sparkled, the air crackled with tension, and silence fell like a heavy curtain over the studio.Then, in a merciless twist of fate, a single mistake shattered that dream before millions of eyes. Fans screamed at their screens, disbelief etched on every face, as the cruel reality sank in. It was a stark reminder that sometimes, the tiniest slip can obliterate the grandest victories.

Shanquetta Cato, who participated in the ‘Teacher’s Week’ did ‘not get lucky’ on the show.

Screenshot showing Shanquetta Cato attempting her Bonus Round puzzle (Cover image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)

“Wheel of Fortune” fans slam the production when contestants lose out because of puzzles that are impossible to solve. But they’re equally outraged when a player fumbles an easy puzzle as well. That’s why fans were left disappointed after a contestant, Shanquetta Cato, lost out on $100,000 over an easy puzzle. She played like a pro throughout the night to gather nearly $30,000 in winnings. While she showed great promise, she was stumped by a rather easy Bonus Round puzzle, which fans felt was quite solvable.

She took the game by storm by blasting through the first couple of puzzles with ease to take the lead. She went on to win a trip to Costa Rica worth $9,600 and cash prizes worth over $16,000 while her opponents did not get off the mark.

Cato showed great promise in the Mystery Round as well and solved the prize puzzle to win another exotic trip to the Verandah Resort & Spa in Antigua, worth $8,687, as per Andy Nguyen’s blog. In the end, she emerged as the big winner of the night with a grand total of $27,287 and the two exotic trips.

Advancing to the Bonus Round, she chose the category “Phrase” for her final puzzle and joined the host, Ryan Seacrest, at the wheel. After Seacrest told Cato that she “could teach a class in Wheel of Fortune,” she introduced him to her best friend from college, Toi. After picking out her prize envelope, she was faced with a three-word puzzle. With the show’s standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, E,” filled in, Cato chose “B, G, H, and O, as her additional letters. Unfortunately for Cato, the letter picks didn’t give her many clues to work with as her final puzzle read, “_ O _        G O T        L _ _ _ _.”

Despite a few missing pieces, the puzzle seemed solvable. But when Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, Cato looked totally stumped. With the clock ticking, she tried to guess the initial words but could only get one word, “YOU”, correct. While she guessed the last word to be “LATE,” she was wrong, and the timer ran out. Co-host, Vanna White, then revealed that the answer was “YOU GOT LUCKY.” To add to her misery, Seacrest flipped the Golden Envelope to show that she had just lost out on winning an additional $100,000.

While the player was disappointed, she was glad to take home nearly $30,000. However, in the comments of the show’s YouTube clip, fans weren’t too kind to her. “I literally solved it myself! That was child’s play for me!” wrote one fan, @06MAN, about the puzzle. “Time to insert sad violin theme in the 1:30 when you got unlucky in something,” joked @robertclimate8718.

Screenshot of a comment (Image source: YouTube/@robertclimate8718)
“I legit was able to solve that puzzle before the timer ran out. I guess she ain’t got lucky,” joked another viewer, @cosechadorjunior.