Pat Sajak isn't putting up with people insulting his Wheel of Fortune contestants. This week, an episode of the popular game show featured a moment where three contestants took a combined 10 attempts to solve a puzzle. Missing just four letters, the puzzle in question read, "Another feather _n yo_r _a_." One contestant incorrectly guesed "hat," "lap," and "map" as the final word, missing the real answer three times in a row.
This was followed by another contestant guessing the wrong consonant twice and then spinning Bankrupt. Another player also spun Bankrupt, not once but twice, before finally solving the puzzle with the correct answer. If you're wondering, that would be "Another feather in your cap."
It's one thing to try and solve these puzzles while watching along at home and something else entirely to be there in the studio and on television with millions of people watching. The reality is that everyone is capable of making mistakes, especially in that kind of high-pressure situation. Even so, some viewers watching the episode were quick to criticize the contestants on Twitter. That's when Sajak got involved, jumping in to defend the contestants from the online harassment.
Pat Sajak Never Wants to See the Contestants Get It Wrong
“It always pains me when nice people come on our show to play a game and win some money and maybe fulfill a lifelong dream, and are then subject to online ridicule when they make a mistake or something goes awry,” Sajak wrote on his Twitter account. “Now imagine you’re on national TV, and you’re suddenly thrown a curve and you begin getting worried about looking stupid, and if the feather isn’t in your hat, where the heck can it be? You start flailing away looking for alternatives rather than synonyms for ‘hat.’ And, of course, when it’s solved, you want to crawl in a hole."
The Wheel of Fortune host added, "I’ve been praised online for 'keeping it together' and not making fun of the players. Truth is, all I want to do is help to get them through it and convince them that those things happen even to very bright people. But mocking them online and calling them names? These are good people in a bad situation under a kind of stress that you can’t begin to appreciate from the comfort of your couch."
"Good-natured laughter is one thing. Heck, they laughed at themselves. But, hey, cut them some slack. Unless you’re there, you have no idea how different it is in the studio," Sajak goes on to explain. "I have fun with players and I tease them occasionally, but when things go wrong, I feel for them, and I try to salve the wounds on camera and off. So, yeah, it was an oddly entertaining puzzle and it’s okay to laugh at the situation. But have a little heart. After all, you may be there one day. And no one wants to be trending on Twitter."