Pat Sajak Gives His Sympathies To “Nervous” ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Contestant After A Guess Cost Him $1 Million: “Things Like That Happen”

We all have our bad days, when the stars — and in this case, letters — just don’t seem to align. That was the case for Wheel of Fortune contestant Izzy Santiago on Monday night’s (Oct. 23) episode.

During his appearance on the show, Santiago was praised by Sajak for his “good memory,” after which he revealed that his “brain takes pictures of numbers and letters, and it just remembers it,” per TV Insider.

However, this wouldn’t serve him well in the “Fun & Games” category, which ended up being nothing like the category name implied.

With $2,250 in tow, Santiago secured the $1 million slat on the wheel. Host Pat Sajak then told him, “You have that and you have [your existing] $2,250. There are no vowels left. Spin it or solve it!”

Santiago chose the letter “F” to spell out ” _RA_I_G _AME_ FROM A HAT.”

He then decided to solve the puzzle, ultimately guessing “DRAWING GAMES FROM A HAT.” Once Sajak informed him that his guess was incorrect, Santiago’s opponent Frankie correctly guessed “DRAWING NAMES FROM A HAT.”

The sage Sajak then imparted his wisdom on Santiago.

“You know, in addition to the regular nervousness you get up here, now here’s a million dollars, and all this stuff, and what am I doing?” he shared.

Santiago agreed, sharing that he “got so nervous.”

According to the New York Post, fans on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) were not as understanding as Sajak. One wrote, “Drawing games from a hat lol poor guy,” while another deemed his incorrect guess “the biggest L.”

However, Santiago is certainly not the only one to undergo the wrath of social media for a Wheel of Fortune woe. Last week, former NFL star Rashad Jennings mistook director Quentin Tarantino for Puentin Tarantino, which was no small fumble.

Wheel of Fortune airs on Wednesday nights at 9/8c on ABC. Watch the clip from Monday’s episode above.