Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy give contestants the opportunities to win big prizes based on how quickly they can come up with the right answers, but a recent episode of Wheel of Fortune revealed a technicality that prevented a woman from winning a car. Charlene Rubush made it all the way to the bonus round and managed to make the right guess, but paused too long to take the big prize, according to Wheel of Fortune rules. It was a ruling that has social media buzzing, and former Jeopardy champ Alex Jacob chimed in.
Alex Jacob made his Jeopardy debut in 2015 and had a successful run, so he certainly has experience with winning game shows. He took to Twitter to not only post the clip of Charlene Rubush correctly guessing the final puzzle in the Wheel of Fortune bonus round, but also weigh in with his thoughts on the matter:
Come on @WheelofFortune, the woman literally chose the right word. Give her the car. pic.twitter.com/aAaMyFeEZlDecember 22, 2021
Charlene Rubush did indeed come up with the right answer and beat the buzzer, but the five seconds that she paused while coming up with the final word was enough to cost her the car. According to Jeopardy veteran Alex Jacob, the pause doesn’t mean that she should lose the car since she got the answer right, and he’s not alone in thinking that.
In subsequent tweets, he showed that he direct messaged the show’s official Twitter account, with no response. He also DMed the Audi USA account, and got the response of “We appreciate your feedback” and that they are “reviewing this situation internally.” Whether that means there’s a shot at Charlene Rubush getting the car or Alex Jacob simply getting a form response remains to be seen, but he’s not the only one pushing for her to get the car anyway.
#WheelofFortune that ruling should be over turned .. she was taking a breath...I guess you can't do that these days..she should get the car.. Audi should award her the car..would be good marketing.December 22, 2021
Considering the social media uproar, it’s safe to say that Audi would get a lot of virtual applause if she is given the car after losing Wheel of Fortune’s bonus round on a technicality. And for some viewers, the contestant losing out on the car despite correctly guessing the answer is even worse due to the holiday season:
Cmon #WheelofFortune she chose the right words! Give her the @Audi ! That’s #grinch and #Scrooge stuff. https://t.co/myA17h9QjgDecember 22, 2021
For still others on social media, they used some Wheel of Fortune terminology to express their disappointment in what happened, and I for one find it easy to relate to the sentiment of “Bah humbug.” This isn’t even the first time in recent months that fans have had something to say about an arguably sketchy ruling.
I can’t choose the right “word” to explain how the #WheelofFortune just took the Audi away from the person who correctly got the puzzle right but lost on a technicality. #Sad. #bahhumbugDecember 22, 2021
All things considered, even though there are some on Twitter who make the point that Wheel of Fortune technically didn’t take the Audi away from her since she never won it due to an existing rule, the prevailing opinion seems to be that she was robbed and deserves the car. This person may sum up what a lot of people are feeling best:
This could be the worst ruling in Wheel of Fortune history pic.twitter.com/cQuXaFfk5SDecember 22, 2021
Only time will tell if Audi decides to embrace the holiday spirit and gift Charlene Rubush with the car, but hopefully the contestant can at least appreciate all the support she is getting from Wheel of Fortune viewers. The show itself seems unlikely to go back on its own ruling about Rubush not winning the car. Still, congratulations to her for getting the answer right eventually! Not all contestants who make it to the bonus round get even one of the words right, let alone all of them.
