Pat Sajak defends contestants after viral 'Wheel of Fortune' fail: 'Have a little heart'
"Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak is coming to the defense of three contestants from Tuesday night's episode after a game show fail went viral.
The puzzle solution was "another feather in your cap," but the contestants took several turns to solve it, with guesses ranging from "another feather in your hat," "another feather in your lap" and "another feather in your map."
"Frozen" actor Josh Gad wrote, "God help us all" when sharing a clip of the round on Twitter. Other social media users were less kind, prompting Sajak to urge viewers to "have a little heart" in a lengthy Twitter thread on Wednesday.
"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, 75, began.
"I've been praised online for 'keeping it together' and not making fun of the players," he continued. "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."
Sajak asked fans to "cut them some slack" because contestants are "under a kind of stress that you can't begin to appreciate from the comfort of your couch." He added, "Unless you're there, you have no idea how different it is in the studio."
"So, yeah, it was an oddly entertaining puzzle and it’s okay to laugh at the situation. But have a little heart," Sajak concluded the Twitter thread. "After all, you may be there one day. And no one wants to be trending on Twitter."
