Wheel of FortuneSeason 42 is bringing in the holiday season withplenty of laughs!During theholiday special episodeof the showwhich aired on June 10, 2025, a contestant made a hilarious guess while attempting to solve a puzzle that contained three festive words starting with the letter C.Phil McManuscame from Palmer, Mass, and was hit withthe Same Letter puzzle, the answer to which was“Chocolates, Chestnuts & Chimneys.”However, Manus replied with “Chickens” instead of “Chimneys.”
Before the audience had the time to react to his wild guess, the contestant,Matt Kommafrom Riverton, Utah chimed in and gave the right answer.McManus ended up losing $9,550for his wildly incorrect answer, while Komma won $4,200. Right after the episode had aired, though, fans of the show took to social media to poke fun at McManus’s unexpected response.“That was my shopping list last weekend,”wrote a user onX(formerly known as Twitter).
In fact, afterWheel of Fortuneuploaded a clip from the show about co-hostVanna Whitewanting to get a tattooon Instagram, one of the suggestions in the comments was “Chicken.” In the same thread, another user commented and claimed that they laughed so hard at McManus’s answer that theirdeaf dog jumped out of the bed. Another wrote: “I was screaming at the TV.” All of this goes to show that McManus’s amusing answer will go down inWheel of Fortunehistory.
Appearing on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Was a Major Milestone for McManus
McManus wasn’t the first contestant on thefan-favorite game showto have made a wrong guess. However, his journey to this point has definitely not been the easiest. During the episode, McManus shared thathe was diagnosed with cancertwo years before appearing on the show. According to the contestant, the doctors believed hisprognosis wasn’t good,and they did not think he was going tolive much longer.
But instead of letting his illness control his life,McManus made a bucket listwhich included attending a Blink-182 reunion concert, going toWrestleMania,and visiting Disneyland. When asked if he had been able to check things off the list, McManus responded that he actuallywent to Disneyland the night before coming onWheel of Fortune. The contestant also revealed that he wascurrently in remission,much to the relief of the audience.
Wheel of FortuneSeason 42 has seen its fair share of unfortunate responses. For example, during the August 01, 2025 episode,Kimberly Wrightfrom Florida was solving a puzzle that was meant to be“Duck-Billed Platypus.”However, she guessed the letter F instead of B and her response became“Duck-Filled Platypus.”Wright’s incorrect guess lost her $7,250 on a puzzle that fans believed wasn’t that difficult in the first place. “She thought the platypus was filled? With what exactly?” wrote an exasperated fan onX.Wheel of FortuneSeason 42airs weeknights onABC. Episodes are also available to stream on YouTube TV in the U.S.
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