A heartbreaking moment unfolded on Wheel of Fortune when a stadium beer vendor watched a potential $74,000 slip away over a puzzle that left viewers stunned and frustrated. Fans at home quickly erupted, insisting the answer was something they had “never heard of,” turning sympathy into outright outrage within minutes. What should have been a life-changing win became one of the show’s most talked-about losses, replayed and dissected across social media. The painful miss has reignited debate over obscure puzzles and whether the game sometimes asks contestants to solve the unsolvable.
A stadium beer vendor lost out on taking home $74,000 on Wheel of Fortune. Fans said they never heard of the phrase during the Bonus Round puzzle.
Reginald Duvaisaint, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, played against Sheila Brown, from Dowagiac, Michigan, and Steve Nordhelm, from Midlothian, Virginia, on January 21. Duvaisaint wants to sell beer in every MLB/NFL stadium.
Brown, a horror movie fan, solved the first toss-up. Duvaisaint took the lead when he solved the second toss-up.
The beer seller also solved “Charming, Chipper, & Cheerful.” He landed on the wedge for the Bahamas trip, so he wound up with $20,126. Duvasaint, who is also a tennis player, solved “The Heart Wants What It Wants” and put $22,626 in his bank.
Nordhelm, a Buffalo Bills fan and grandfather, finally got on the board when he solved the prize puzzle — “Life Is What You Make It.” This put $8,273 and a trip to Belize in his prize pot.
Nordhelm quickly solved the first two triple toss-ups, putting $4,000 in his bank. Duvasaint solved the third one for $2,000.
Normhelm solved “Loving Every Minute” for the final puzzle, giving him a total of $16,773. Brown went home with $1,000. Duvasaint was the night’s big winner with $24,626.
He chose “Phrase” and brought his cousin, Ron, and his mom, Joelle, to cheer him on. Joelle said she never bought a beer from her son because she doesn’t drink it.
After being given “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” he chose “D,C,M, and, A” to round out his puzzle. The game show contestant’s puzzle then looked like “_E _A_E A _R_E_ LA_ _ _ER.”As the timer counted down, Duvasaint guessed, “We have a green lagger,” “We have a greasy…” He couldn’t figure out “We have a brief layover.”
$50,000 would have been added to his total if he had solved it, giving him $74,626. Fans thought that the puzzle was tough, with some of them saying they’ve “never heard” that phrase before.
“Haven’t heard of the phrase ‘we have a brief layover.’ Every contestant is losing the Bonus Round,” one YouTube user commented.
“I’ve never heard of that phrase before,” a fan said.
“That was tough,” many wrote.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten that,” one last fan said.