‘Wheel of Fortune’: Best Friends Lose $75,000 After Ryan Seacrest Teases Them

Ryan Seacrest teased a Wheel of Fortune pair after he could hear them whispering during the Bonus Round. Their deliberation didn’t help much as they lost out on $75,000.

Kelli Mullen and Emma Paulson, from Minnesota, played in a rare pairs game titled “Girlfriend Getaways” on October 29, 2024. Their episode reaired on July 22 during the game show‘s summer reruns. The best friends who met in sixth grade played against Kayley Tierney and Caitlyn Brehm, from New York, and Tina Freeman and Nicolle Royals.

By the end of the game, Mullen and Paulson had the lead with $19,530 in cash and a trip to Barbados. They selected “What Are You Doing?” for the Bonus Round.

Wheel of Fortune gave them “R,S,T,L,N, and, E,” and they had to choose three more consonants and a vowel. Mullen and Paulson whispered as they debated their choices.

“C?” Mullen asked, and Paulson agreed. They said it out loud and then whispered again for the next letter. They then chose “D.” When it came time to pick the third letter, host Ryan Seacrest said, “I can hear you!” The woman laughed and then said “F.” As they chose their vowel, Seacrest said, “A.’ I heard you.”

Their puzzle then looked like “A_ _L_ _N_  _ _SELF.” As the clock counted down, the best friends didn’t guess anything.

“You needed a little bit more up there,” Seacrest said. The puzzle turned out to be “APPLYING MYSELF.” He revealed the envelope to have $75,000 in it.

“I like how Ryan says, ‘I can hear you,’ when they’re whispering lol,” a YouTube user wrote. 

“‘I can hear you’ lol,” said another.

“They were too busy whispering, they should’ve got it right on the spot instead of whispering too much during the bonus round, especially when there’s an A up there,” a third added.

“Ouch! $75,000. 2nd biggest prize in the bonus round loss besides the million. But they still won $19,530!” wrote a fourth.