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It seems that every week, something happens on Wheel Of Fortune that makes the headlines. Recently, there have been news stories about host Pat Sajak leaving mid-show, a contestant's inappropriate guess causing an awkward moment, a contestant potentially being unfairly treated due to an accent, and Pat tackling a player. However, there was a much bigger story surrounding an episode of the show back in 2017 - when a contestant may have farted during gameplay.
The questionable sound happened during a November filming, and to this day, no one knows if it was indeed a fart or not. The reason it is so difficult to tell what occurred is because the camera was focused on the board when it all went down. During the moment, the contestant in question had just spun and was about to yell out the letter she'd chosen, but then there was a fart sound and she immediately said, "Excuse me."
Sajak responded by stating, "That's okay, all I heard was a noise. I just heard a sound. Unidentifiable," but he spent the rest of the round giggling. Twitter was pretty convinced she cut the cheese:
While it'd be pretty funny if she did toot during the show, a more likely explanation of the sound stems from the wedge the contestant landed on - a Free Play. That means instead of having to pay $250 for a vowel, she could choose one for free, something she realized while she started to guess the letter "F." As she caught herself potentially missing an opportunity for a free vowel, she made a raspberry sound and then said "O."
So, when Pat told her "all I heard was a noise," it was his way of saying he didn't hear her say the letter "F," because if he had, she'd have to stick with that letter choice. In fact, after her next spin, she did indeed pick "F," proving that was what she was originally thinking. Also, because of the placement of the microphone on the neckline of her shirt, it would have had to have been a very loud fart to get picked up so clearly.
Regardless of what it was, it still makes for a pretty funny clip from the show.