Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Pat Sajak Hilariously Mocks The Most Unlucky Contestant In 'Wheel Of Fortune' History—And Fans Are Loving It

(L) Pat Sajak; (R) Contestant, Justin
@WheelofFortune/Twitter

A school principal from Kansas City, Missouri, experienced a string of bad luck on the hit game show after the wheel kept landing on 'Bankrupt' or other losing slots six different times.

Oh, what a whirl.

A contestant on a recent episode of Wheel of Fortune became dubbed the most unlucky to ever participate in the popular word puzzle TV game show.


Introducing Justin Orscheln.

He is an assistant school principal at Eagle Heights Elementary School outside of Kansas City, Missouri, who revealed he and his "patient" husband Ben had recently adopted two boys.

He also admitted to having a collection of $2,000 worth of candles he affectionately calls his "girls."

While his infectious charisma won over the studio audience, he failed miserably at the wheel when he repeatedly spun what turned out to be a wheel of misfortune.

Whenever Orscheln spun during Tuesday's game, the needle landed on either "bankrupt" or "lose a turn" every single time.

On his first attempt, he landed on the bankrupt slice of the wheel pie–which is fairly common.

But he brushed it off, saying:

"It's fine."

In the next word puzzle, he was more ambitious.

"Come on wheel," said Orscheln while clapping in his dapper burgundy tux.

But the spinning disk on a mean streak was not going to cooperate in the contestant's favor.

Luck was not on Jutin's side as the flicking needle slowed to a stop in the bankrupt zone a second and third time.

Orscheln's enthusiasm waned with every turn, and even host Pat Sajak lost hope and humorously remarked:

"Justin! Justin! Justin! Go to the principal's office."

You can watch Orscheln's game play literally taking a turn for the worse in the clip below.


When the fifth puzzle spin landed him in familiar territory, he dramatically collapsed behind the giant turntable.

An empathetic Sajak assured him that the next round involved:

“No spinning in the triple toss-ups."

But during the Final Spin, things didn't turn out any better.



He got another chance to twirl since a money wedge was needed to determine the value of each letter.

“Just make it $5000, Pat, we’ve got this. This is dark-sided," remarked Orscheln, maintaining a sense of humor.

When the needle clicked to a dead stop on "Lose a Turn," he joked to Sajak:

“You're doing this on purpose at this point.”

But because a dollar value was still required, he spun the wheel again and it finally stopped at $650.

And just like that, the recurring nightmare was over–but it would be one he wouldn't soon forget.

People felt bad for Orscheln.






The game show's Twitter account even weighed in, saying:

“Don’t worry, we spoke to the wheel after the show and asked it to apologize to Justin for its behavior today




By the end of the game, Orscheln managed to walk away with $2,000 and the hearts of viewers.






Recalling his whirlwind of a time on his Wheel of Fortune debut, Orscheln told the New York Post:

“The first bankruptcy or two didn’t bother me — it’s all part of the game."
"However, the subsequent bankruptcies and Lose a Turns were a blow to the ego for sure.”

When he knew the odds were not in his favor, he said he chose to make light of the situation and set a positive example in a stressful moment.

“I had to make the conscious choice to model good sportsmanship for my students and my own boys and have fun even when things weren’t happening favorably—which led to ‘the faint."
“At that point, [with] the final spin having both a bankruptcy and Lose a Turn, I figured to have as much fun as possible and not let them see me sweat.”

He was even worried at one point that Sajak was not amused by his antics.

The host quipped "We love your acting" before asking him to spin the wheel again.

Orscheln continued:

“After the bankruptcy, I wasn’t sure if Pat was annoyed [with my] pulling focus to me, but my intention was to just make light of an irritating situation."
"It was during the following Lose a Turn after that when he said, ‘Get ready to fall again, Justin,’ that I knew he was in on it too.”

He hopes to one day return to play the game or even fill in for Sajak when he eventually retires from hosting duties.

More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies

Melania Trump
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

MAGA Bots Come Out In Full Force After Melania's New Documentary Gets Abysmal Score On 'Rotten Tomatoes'

First Lady Melania Trump's new documentary was critically panned on its opening weekend, but MAGA bots have come out in full force with enough gushing reviews to give the film a near-perfect audience score on the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

Melania follows current First Lady Melania Trump in the 20 days leading up to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration following the 2024 presidential election. The film was directed by Brett Ratner, who was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by at least six women.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Trevor Noah
Annabelle Gibson/Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Trump Threatens To Sue 'Total Loser' Trevor Noah Over Joke About Him And Epstein During Grammys

President Donald Trump lashed out at Grammys host Trevor Noah after Noah made a joke during the broadcast linking Trump's obsession with controlling Greenland to Trump's former friend and associate Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted pedophile and sex trafficker.

Trump has continued his push to seize control of Greenland from Denmark. He has reiterated his reasoning that owning Greenland is crucial to domestic and international security, dismissing the fact the territory is under the control of a key ally.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shot of a group of signs from ice protests.
Photo by Nitish Meena on Unsplash

Family Of ICE Agents Explain How They Really Feel About Their Relative's Job

People need jobs, but some jobs might not be worth the personal loss.

How do we all deal with loved ones who sign up for something we vehemently disagree with?

Keep ReadingShow less
Sabrina Carpenter
John Shearer/The Recording Academy/Getty Images

Video Of Sabrina Carpenter's Reaction To Losing All Six Grammys She Was Nominated For Has Fans Gutted For Her

Sabrina Carpenter has been in her winning era for the last few years, but it seems the Grammys did not get that memo this year.

Carpenter fans were excited and confident that the Man's Best Friend singer would take it all home when she was nominated in six categories for the evening, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Solo Pop Performance, and Best Music Video.

Keep ReadingShow less
Paul Mescal (left) and a young Paul McCartney (right) are shown side by side as fans react to Mescal’s striking resemblance.
Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Focus Features; Universal Images Group via Getty Images

People Can't Believe How Much Paul Mescal Looks Like Paul McCartney In First Look At New Beatles Biopics

Sony Pictures has unveiled the first official look at its ambitious project The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, and fans are already doing double takes—especially when it comes to Paul Mescal’s striking transformation into a young Paul McCartney.

On Friday, the studio released images of Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson portraying McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon, respectively, ahead of the films’ planned April 2028 release. Directed by Sam Mendes, the project will consist of four interconnected biopics, each told from the perspective of a different Beatle.

Keep ReadingShow less