‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Lash Out at “Loophole” That Allows Contestant to Appear Twice

Wheel of Fortune has a one-and-done policy, but one contestant defied the odds and received his second shot at game show gold. On Monday night, contestant Tony Harrison was brought back for a second turn due to an unspecified “production issue” that affected his first appearance. While Harrison’s comeback proved successful, viewers at home weren’t too happy about the change in policy. As one fan put it, “I’ve never been on Wheel of Fortune once but Tony gets to be on it twice…” Valid point.

According to Yahoo, Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak had a little surprise in store for regular viewers last night. After introducing Harrison, a software project manager from Valencia, California, Sajak noted that the might “look familiar” to fans. “This is Tony Harrison, who’s been here before,” he said. “We had a little production issue, and in the interests of fairness, we brought Tony back.”

Sajak didn’t specify what exactly happened, but clearly, the problem was significant enough that Wheel of Fortune was willing to violate its one-appearance-per-contestant rule. After the episode aired, Harrison revealed that he’s not sure why it took the game show two years to bring him back after his first taping. “The show was great about staying in touch and letting me know that it was just a matter of time,” he tweeted.

It was a good thing he waited, because Harrison dominated the competition and ended up going home with $93,831 in cash and prizes, including a trip to Barbados. But victory aside, fans were slightly jealous about Harrison’s second chance at game show greatness. “What kind of loophole did Tony find to get a second run at Wheel of Fortune?” asked one fan. “Does anyone know what kind of production issue happened the first time that Tony was on?” said another.

Be careful, Tony. You may have some very angry fans following you to Barbados.