‘Wheel of Fortune’ player Arzice Salonga, a former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader, missed out on $1K

“Wheel of Fortune” fans were upset and disappointed over the actions of host Ryan Seacrest. Earlier this week, a player named Arzice Salonga – a law student and single mom from Medina, Ohio – missed out on the game’s first toss up round worth $1,000.

The “Wheel of Fortune” category was “Event,” as the two-word puzzle read, “A F _ I _ _ N / _ A _ A _ _.”

While the former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader buzzed in and answered “African Safari,” she was ruled incorrect for her pronunciation of “safari.” Salonga appeared to pronounce the word as “sa-FAIR-ee.”

Another “Wheel of Fortune” contestant, Brian Nelson from Longview, Texas, buzzed in to guess the puzzle with the correct pronunciation, which the game show ruled correct.

Seacrest chimed in and said, “Yes, safari is the way you have to say that,” as Salonga appeared shocked. He added, “I just checked with our judges to make sure.”

Fans were quick to react on social media to the questionable ruling.

“She was robbed IMO [in my opinion],” a fan wrote on Reddit.

One viewer wrote on X, “Cmon, Wheel of Fortune judges. I knew what she meant when she said African ‘Safari’ that way.”

Another fan argued, “Now they know good and well they should have given her ‘Sa-fair-ree’ yes it’s pronounced saFARi but still, slight cultural variation has been considered before.”

Other “Wheel of Fortune” viewers agreed with the show’s ruling.

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“Never heard someone mispronounce ‘Safari’ as ‘Sa-fair-ee,’” one user wrote.

Another commented, “I’m gonna go against the grain. Wheel is a show about words. You should pronounce the words correctly to win.”