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Wheel of Fortune fans can't cope after witnessing most 'painful' & 'cold-blooded' show moment in history

Author

Samuel Coleman

Published Sep 11, 2026

WHEEL of Fortune fans have not been able to cope after witnessing the most "painful" moment in the show's history.

The cold-blooded clip from 2014 resurfaced online of a contestant pronouncing the name wrong in a puzzle.

Julian landed on the One Million Dollars block, but lost because he mispronounced a word

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Julian landed on the One Million Dollars block, but lost because he mispronounced a wordCredit: ABC
He pronounced the word, 'Achilles,' wrong

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He pronounced the word, 'Achilles,' wrongCredit: ABC

A Twitter user posted a clip from the show from nine years ago.

"D**n I know this one hurt," the user captioned the video.

In the video, Julian spun the wheel for a "Character" clue.

He landed on the One Million Dollar block, in between two Bankrupt ones.

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The WOF contestant guessed the letter, "L," and received four of them, resulting in him picking up the Million Dollar panel.

Julian guessed, "Y," "G," and "C," which eventually solved the whole puzzle.

All he had to do was say it out loud.

"Mythological hero Achilles," he said.

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The man, however, pronounced it as, "A-chew-less," instead of, "Uh-kill-es."

Host Pat Sajak told him that they could not accept that, resulting in him losing the puzzle and the one million dollars.

The woman next to him, Shelby, guessed it, and said it correctly, making her win the money.

When Pat walked over to her, Julian looked as though he was about to cry.

'THERE'S NO WAY'

Fans could not believe the mistake he made and took to the comments.

"There's no way..." one simply said.

"I know his parents were like *insert face palm emoji*," wrote another.

A third said: "D**n don’t know how to pronounce Achilles, but you’re in college."

"That was painful to watch," commented another Twitter user.

One fan defended him, saying: "I get that he SHOULD know how to pronounce Achilles, but it’s a 3000-year-old proper name from a foreign language translated from a foreign alphabet… Wheel of Fortune is cold-blooded for this."

"This is just wrong. Not everyone encounters mythology, history, science, or whatever via spoken language. Some are readers and must figure out pronunciation on their own. This should have been accepted. I hope he appeals or sues re this decision," another defended.

However, many pointed out that pronunciation is a big part of the game.

IT GETS WORSE

In the comments of the original video, a fan posted a video of Julian later in the game, messing up another clue.

"It only gets worse," they captioned it.

The clue that was present on the screen was "The world's fastest _a_."

Julian landed on $300 and guessed, "C."

He was probably thinking the puzzle was "The world's fastest car," but Pat told him there was no "C."

Shelby, once again, saved the day, and guessed the puzzle.

"The world's fastest man" was the puzzle, and she guessed it correctly.

Another clip was shown and Julian guessed "On the spot dicespin."

However, that was wrong AGAIN and Shelby guessed correctly again.

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"On the spot decision," she said.

Julian looked upset both times.

Pat congratulated Shelby on getting the puzzle correct

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Pat congratulated Shelby on getting the puzzle correctCredit: ABC
Julian continued to guess wrong letters or puzzles throughout the game

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Julian continued to guess wrong letters or puzzles throughout the gameCredit: ABC
He got the puzzle right, but did not pronounce it correctly

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He got the puzzle right, but did not pronounce it correctlyCredit: ABC