Another night on Wheel of Fortune ended with stunned silence — and a wave of outrage online — after a final puzzle many viewers called nearly impossible.
Saturday’s episode delivered a moment that had fans shouting at their screens as contestant Richard came within touching distance of a massive cash prize, only to be stopped cold by what many labeled a “head-scratching” answer.
The popular ITV game show welcomed back host Graham Norton, who returned to the studio to guide contestants Yemi, Aimee and Richard through the high-stakes word challenge.
As the rounds unfolded, Richard emerged as the night’s strongest performer, navigating his way through the board and earning a spot in the all-important final round — where a life-changing £50,000 was on the line.
With the pressure mounting, Norton asked him to select one of three remaining categories: house and garden, fictional character, or food and drink.
Richard went with food and drink — a choice that would soon spark fury among viewers.
As the final puzzle appeared, he was automatically given the standard letters R and N. From there, he selected three additional consonants — C, H and D — along with the vowel I.
Then came the crushing moment.
None of his chosen letters appeared on the board.
With only a handful of blanks staring back at him, Norton reminded Richard he had just 10 seconds to make as many guesses as possible before time expired.
Thinking aloud, Richard attempted to piece together something familiar, suggesting it might be “brown something,” but the clock quickly ran out.
The studio fell quiet.
When the answer was finally revealed, Norton delivered the verdict with sympathy.
The correct solution, he explained, was “prawn gyoza.”
Even the host acknowledged how unforgiving the puzzle had been, telling Richard there was no shame in missing it — especially considering none of his selected letters appeared.
To add salt to the wound, Norton then opened the prize envelope.
Had Richard solved it, he would have walked away with £20,000.
Instead, he left with £8,400 earned during gameplay — along with £2,000 in supermarket vouchers — a respectable total, but far from the jackpot many felt he deserved.
Within minutes, social media lit up.
Viewers flooded X, formerly Twitter, with disbelief, frustration and outright anger, questioning how a contestant could reasonably be expected to land on such an answer under intense time pressure.
Many admitted they had never heard the term before — and some argued they wouldn’t have solved it even with more letters revealed.
Others accused the show of making final puzzles unnecessarily difficult, speculating that obscure food terms were being used to keep prize money off the table.
Comments poured in calling the puzzle unfair, laughable and borderline impossible, with fans insisting Richard had been “robbed” of a deserved win.
The controversy comes amid renewed attention on ITV game shows — especially after a very different outcome on The 1% Club delivered one of the biggest wins in recent memory.
On that program, hosted by comedian Lee Mack, contestants compete using logic rather than trivia — and during one dramatic episode, the prize pot climbed to an eye-watering £96,000.
By the final round, only three players remained: Cameron, Tazmin and Paul.
They were shown a sequence of letters — T N E C R E P E — and asked to identify which two letters came next.
With just 30 seconds on the clock and the full jackpot at stake, each finalist locked in an answer.
Cameron chose N-T.
Paul went with T-E.
Tazmin selected N-O.
When Mack revealed the correct response was N-O, Tazmin became the sole winner — walking away with the entire £96,000 prize.
She later revealed she had solved the puzzle in under ten seconds.
The episode, which originally aired in 2022 as the show’s debut, has since resurfaced — creating a sharp contrast between triumph and heartbreak.
For Wheel of Fortune fans, however, one thing is clear: when a final puzzle feels stacked against the player, viewers don’t stay quiet.
And judging by the backlash, “prawn gyoza” may go down as one of the most controversial answers yet.
