--- title: Wheel of Fortune Contestant Mispronounced 'Flamenco,' Losing description: A "Wheel of Fortune" contestant botched the pronunciation of "flamenco dance lessons" and it cost him $7,000. canonical: https://time.com/5234535/flamenco-dance-lessons-wheel-of-fortune/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-10T14:11:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:58.554Z og:title: A 'Wheel of Fortune' Contestant Mispronounced One Word and It Cost Him the Entire Prize og:description: He will never forget how to pronounce "flamenco" og:url: https://time.com/5234535/flamenco-dance-lessons-wheel-of-fortune/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A 'Wheel of Fortune' Contestant Mispronounced One Word and It Cost Him the Entire Prize twitter:description: He will never forget how to pronounce "flamenco" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # A _Wheel of Fortune_ Contestant Mispronounced 'Flamenco' and It Cost Him the Entire Prize by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 10, 2018 2:11 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 10, 2018 2:11 PM UTC In the [history of game shows](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1933556%5F1933557%5F1933553,00.html), there have been a lot of memorable moments. None though seem quite as educational as a recent _Wheel of Fortune_ contestant who will now never, ever forget how to pronounce “flamenco dance lessons.” On the show, a contestant named Jonny had completed an answer on the board reading: “Flamenco Dance Lessons.” All he had to do was read the phrase and he would take home $7,100\. Easier done than said, apparently. Instead of saying “flamenco,” the man said “flamingo,” as in the pink bird whose plastic copies are common sites in yards. Host Pat Sajak had no choice but to buzz him for delivering an incorrect answer, leaving Jonny in a sad state of shock over losing out on his cash prize and trip to Spain. Jonny’s botched pronunciation of “flamenco” gave his opponent, Ashley, the chance to swoop in, pronounce the “flamenco dance lessons” correctly, and take home the money. Jonny was still confused over his error, so Sajak explained: “What we all heard was — and I know you didn’t mean to say it — but you gave us a G instead of a C.” This isn’t the first time a game show has crushed a man’s dreams over a mispronunciation. Earlier this year, [a contestant on _Jeopardy!_](http://time.com/5226169/reese-witherspoon-jeopardy-category/) lost $3,200 after [calling Coolio’s song](http://time.com/money/5085600/jeopardy-josh-milton-gangstas-paradise/) “Gangster’s Paradise” instead of the correct answer, which is “Gangsta’s Paradise.” > [](https://twitter.com/WorldofIsaac/status/983491542886252544) Wheel of Fortune Contestant Mispronounced 'Flamenco,' Losing ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5234535/flamenco-dance-lessons-wheel-of-fortune/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5234535/flamenco-dance-lessons-wheel-of-fortune/"},"headline":"A Wheel of Fortune Contestant Mispronounced 'Flamenco' and It Cost Him the Entire Prize","datePublished":"2018-04-10T14:11:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:51:58.554Z","description":"He will never forget how to pronounce \"flamenco\"","url":"https://time.com/5234535/flamenco-dance-lessons-wheel-of-fortune/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Viral Videos","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5234535/flamenco-dance-lessons-wheel-of-fortune/","name":"A Wheel of Fortune Contestant Mispronounced 'Flamenco' and It Cost Him the Entire Prize"}}]}] ```