Image by Federico Napoli

Wheel of Fortune has had its share of nail-biting moments, out-of-left-field funny guesses, heartbreaking losses, and big, big wins. And, as one might expect, the show has no shortage of opinions from fans who believe they’re recycling puzzles too often, or that the bonus round questions are too difficult. Recently, a perpetual bee in the bonnet of fans was met with renewed scrutiny when a law student and single mom from Medina, Ohio, Arzice Salonga, missed out on $1,000 in the game’s first toss-up round because of a mispronunciation of the word “safari.” It’s ridiculous and unfair, and proves that Wheel of Fortune needs to amend their rules.

The ‘Wheel of Fortune’ “Event” Clue Debacle of February 2025

Image via ABC

The category for the now-notorious moment was “Event,” and on the board was a clue with two words that read, “A F _ I _ _ N / _ A _ A _ _,” with $1K on the line. Salonga, a one-time Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader, buzzed in and answered “African Safari,” which was apparently incorrect. Longview’s Brian Nelson then buzzed in and answered “African Safari,” which was, in fact, correct. Now you may be asking yourself just how two identical answers can be both right and wrong, provided this wasn’t a Bizarro Wheel of Fortune, but there is a way, which is why fans’ knickers are in a knot.

As the old adage goes, “It’s not what you say but how you say it,” and that would be the reason why Salonga was deemed incorrect with her guess. Salonga pronounced the word “safari” as “sa-FAIR-ee,” while Nelson pronounced it as “sa-FAR-ee,” which was ruled correct. Host Ryan Seacrest would confirm, saying, “Yes, safari is the way you have to say that. I just checked with our judges to make sure.” Salonga’s look was one of shock which, undoubtedly, mirrored the looks of many Wheel of Fortune viewers with the ruling.

The “Safari” Debacle Proves the Need to Amend the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Rules

Fans took to social media with divided opinions. Those who agreed with the Wheel of Fortune judges commented that, on a show about words, those words should be pronounced correctly, while another simply wrote, “Never heard someone mispronounce ‘Safari’ as ‘Sa-fair-ee.’” But the popular opinion is that Salonga was robbed, claiming it was clearly obvious what she meant when she said “safari” the way she did. Another cited inconsistencies with similar moments on the show, with one arguing, “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.”

Pronunciation has always been a controversial topic, not just on Wheel of Fortune, but on others like Jeopardy. But it’s not like Salonga was blatantly incorrect, not like, say, answering “Right in the butt” instead of the correct “This is the best.” “Sa-fair-ee” is an odd pronunciation for sure, but to declare it as incorrect doesn’t allow for cultural linguistics or other reasons that justify pronouncing it the way Salonga did.

At worst, it’s a “potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto” argument, with what’s being talked about being obvious even with the slight variation in pronunciation. By rights, it should hardly even require amending the rules in the first place, when simple common sense says that the contestant is identifying the word correctly and in context. But by all means, amend the rule, if common sense is as overtly elusive as it appears to be. In this case, a favorable ruling would likely have seen Salonga win the game, or at the very least make it to the bonus round, based solely on the fact that her final tally of $15,698 fell just short of the $17,650 the winner had.