PAT Sajak has aimed a biting remark at a contestant named Deanna on Wednesday’s Wheel of Fortune episode.
After she seemingly stumbled at the finish line of a simple puzzle, the host likened himself to “a dentist, pulling teeth to get there.”
The Southern California contestant with a knack for reading upside down and writing backward faced a puzzle under the category “Events.”
The puzzle read as “The _ _ ST BEATI_UL SUNSETS,” seemingly ready for a swift resolution.
With a clear tone of impatience, Pat, 77, probed, “Any other buying?”
Deanna, seemingly caught off guard, sighed and decided to buy an “O.”
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Pat couldn’t help but chuckle as he revealed, “There is an O…”
At that point, she declared: “I’m going to solve it!” to which Pat shouted: “Please!”
She did so correctly with “The Most Beautiful Sunsets,” prompting laughter from the audience.
Deanna, in good spirits, also laughed off the moment, playfully pointing to her head with her fingers, suggesting a temporary brain freeze.
Then came Pat’s ruthless retort; he smiled and took a moment before quipping: “I felt less like a game show host and more like a dentist.
…Pulling teeth to get there.”
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The audience chuckled nervously, and fans on X (formerly Twitter) couldn’t help but react.
One user exclaimed, ” ‘I’m more like a dentist. It’s like pulling teeth.’ PAT STOP,” accompanied by three cry-laugh emojis.
HARSH HOST
The soon-to-retire Wheel of Fortune warhorse is saying just what’s on his mind as his sendoff season is well underway.
Last episode, Pat told a contestant after they missed the bonus puzzle: “You were so not close.”
And two nights ago, Pat mocked a contestant who was confident about his bonus puzzle: “What are you grinning about?”
Just recently, fans slammed Pat as “disrespectful” for screaming “shut up” at a contestant.
Last month, an unvictorious bonus prize saw a player snap: “What kind of puzzle is that?”
Pat looked shocked by the pushback and zinged back: “It’s a puzzle you didn’t solve.”
In November, the host gave it to the contestants after each made an incorrect guess on a puzzle.
He snarked to the player who solved it: “You were bound to get there eventually.
There are only so many words in the English language.”
“Aw!” another contestant could be heard yelling off-screen as the audience nervously laughed.
A winner from earlier this season exclusively told The U.S. Sun that he was getting carried away with his showmanship, causing Pat to pull him aside and warn: “This is my show.”
Pat is retiring at the end of the now-airing season in June 2024 to make way for Ryan Seacrest, who will begin hosting next fall.