Charlene Rubush was a recent contestant on the hit show Wheel of Fortune, which receives popularity and viewings from all around the world due to its high end prizes as well as long running on television. But during Charlene’s recent debut on the show fans were enraged and upset by a small rule that lost her the most beloved prize for most contestants: a new car. What happened to lose her the game, and what happened to the quickly loved contestant after the show was over that day? Well, let’s get into it.
On December 21 the Wheel of Fortune episode aired on TV for millions of fans to watch, and one particular person playing caught attention of everyone. Charlene Rubush managed to make it to the Bonus Round, which is hard enough to get to as is, and did so with thousands already won to take home. She had $16,500 to take home. Now, the last round is a word puzzle where you have to guess the phrase correctly in the span of time given to be able to win the grand prize. This prize was a car.
The contestant did her usual rounds, got some filled in letters, and made a guess. Her guess was incorrect. But, she paused to think about it and then answered again. This second guess was correct. However, her second guess happened across the span of many seconds, which was announced to mean she disqualified and lost the car. Fans felt for her and came to her aid pretty quickly, including some other game show winners, across social media.
Everyone was calling out to the show to give Charlene the car. She answered it correctly, and it was barely on a technicality that made her lose the car. People were upset and angry for her, and it went on for a long time very loudly across multiple platforms. The video circulated of her loss, showing how she paused but was let down by the host who said that while she did get the correct answer she paused for too long in between and that meant she lost the prize. After which, they revealed the prize was an Audi.
Mostly in the spirit of giving and Christmas time, fans argued on her behalf everywhere. Many even declared that they would stop watching the show after a contestant who answered correctly would lose out on a special prize like that. As the heat towards Wheel of Fortune rose, the car company that was involved got word. The day after Charlene’s episode aired, Audi tweeted publicly that they see her as a winner and want to give her a car after all as a Christmas present.
It took some time to track down this specific Charlene Rubush, but soon after that tweet aired Audi was back on social media thanking their community for helping locate her. Audi of America’s chief marketing officer Tara Rush was interviewed on the matter and added her own comment saying that Audi is always happy to share some magic and cheer regardless of technicalities, and they were absolutely happy to gift Charlene a brand new Q3 after the show’s mishap.
Overall, this story is a nice little perspective on the holidays and how many people coming together can mean a lot for anyone out there. It especially shows how much power social media can have in current times, but all in all that holiday cheer is a sweet thing and sometimes things truly do work out well in the end when they start off bad. One of a kind stories like Charlene’s are wonderful to learn about, and we hope you enjoyed this little holiday tale.