A Major 'Wheel of Fortune' Blooper Has Gone Viral Online Because It's Naughty

It isn't often that contestants on Wheel of Fortune go viral. After all, the game show has been on forever, and pretty much the same thing happens every night. During the May 23, 2024, episode of the show, though, something a little bit unusual happened and it's already going viral online.

During the first toss-up puzzle of the evening, one contestant made a guess that was far racier than the phrases that usually come up on the wheel. Here's what we know about the incident, and why it's suddenly all over the internet.

Toss-up puzzles on Wheel of Fortune give every contestant the chance to buzz in and solve the world puzzle as letters are slowly revealed. During the first toss-up puzzle on the 7,999th show, Tavaris, one of the show's contestants, incorrectly guessed that the puzzle's answer was "Right in the butt." His fellow contestants were shocked by the answer, as was host Pat Sajak, who has likely seen a lot in his time with the series.

For one thing, the correct answer was "This is the best," which doesn't even have the same number of letters in the first word. For another, that answer is far too risque for Wheel of Fortune, which tries its best to be a family friendly show.

The correct answer was guessed almost immediately after, but those who caught the guess live or saw it as it circulated online understandably found the whole thing pretty amusing.

Tavaris seemed to know that his guess was a little outside the lines, as he made a face almost immediately after giving it.

"The answer made him a hero. The face afterward made him a legend," one person wrote in a comment under video of the moment.

"Right in the butt" might become a Hall of Fame Wheel of Fortune moment, in part because it was one that basically no one saw coming.