The February 27 episode of Wheel of Fortune was supposed to be a lighthearted mid-week game show escape, the kind of breezy entertainment viewers have counted on for decades. But instead of ending with applause and uncomplicated celebration, it left fans arguing fiercely across YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, and comment sections everywhere. At the center of the controversy was California mental-health-clinic owner Sarah LaPilusa, who walked away with more than fifty-five thousand dollars. And at the heart of the debate was one question: Did she solve the final puzzle before the buzzer—or did the show bend the rules in her favor?
To understand why this particular episode exploded into such a heated debate, it helps to revisit how it unfolded: a quiet start, a surprisingly tense middle, and then a finale that had the internet rewinding video clips frame-by-frame like amateur investigators determined to find the truth.
Sarah LaPilusa was competing against Air Force member Jimmy Holgerson and traveler Yolanda Tillet. All three seemed relaxed enough at the start, exchanging friendly smiles as the first toss-up puzzles flashed across the board. The audience, warm and lively, cheered as Vanna White revealed letters one by one. It felt like any other Wednesday episode.
But as the game progressed, Sarah proved she wasn’t just another contestant—she was sharp, observant, analytical, and quick with her guesses. Round by round, she climbed higher in winnings, eventually scoring a trip to Mexico and securing a comfortable lead. By the end of the standard puzzle rounds, she had earned $15,050. Tillet followed closely behind with $13,500, and Holgerson wrapped with $2,000.
Everything looked straightforward. Everything felt ordinary.
Until it wasn’t.
Fans who had tuned in casually suddenly found themselves leaning forward with narrowed eyes when LaPilusa stepped up for the Bonus Round. The category was “People,” a category that can be either extremely simple or impossibly vague. Sarah selected her usual combination of letters—M, B, H, O—added to the standard set of R, S, T, L, N, E. When the board finished filling in, it revealed:
_ _ S S _ B _ B _ E S
She had ten seconds. A short countdown, but long enough for a calm mind to scan possibilities.
But calm was not what viewers saw. Instead, Sarah immediately blurted out something that turned heads on social media:
“Jazzy babies!”
It wasn’t right. It wasn’t even close. And yet, the oddity of it set a spark of curiosity. Why that phrase? What connection did she think she saw? Was it simply panic, or was her brain reaching for something she could fix in the next breath?
What happened next unleashed an internet storm.
Barely a moment after saying the incorrect guess, she followed it with:
“Fussy babies!”
The correct answer.
The difference between those two guesses was maybe a second—maybe even less. But was it in time?
This is where opinions split violently.
Host Ryan Seacrest blinked, waited half a beat, turned to the judges, and asked for a ruling. His expression—half impressed, half uncertain—said everything viewers were thinking. The studio audience fell into a hush, waiting for the judgment that would determine whether Sarah walked home with $40,000 or nothing extra at all.
A moment later, Seacrest announced that the judges had reviewed the timing and determined the answer was within the time limit.
Cheers erupted. Confetti nearly seemed ready to fall. Sarah gasped with relief, her hands covering her mouth in disbelief. Her total jumped to $55,050.
But while the studio celebrated, the internet did not.
Hours after the episode aired, Wheel of Fortune’s social-media accounts were drowning in conflicting opinions. Clips of the moment were ripped, reuploaded, slowed down, zoomed in, rewound, analyzed, paused, and re-shared with commentary ranging from supportive to furious.
Some fans praised Sarah’s mental agility and quick correction. They argued she talked her way into finding the correct phrase—a strategy contestants have long used when puzzling through the Bonus Round. Saying one phrase can often unlock another. To them, her win was thrilling, fair, and absolutely deserved.
“That is the definition of fast thinking,” one YouTube user said. “She went from a wrong answer to the right one in the same breath. That’s incredible.”
Another supportive comment read, “This is why talking it out works! She found the rhythm of the phrase. Total buzzer-beater.”
These fans saw her incorrect initial guess as part of the solving process. Many believed the phrase “jazzy babies” shared enough phonetic similarity to “fussy babies” to trigger the right answer organically.
But just as many viewers saw something very different.
“That was one hundred percent after the buzzer,” a frustrated fan posted. “She said the right answer AFTER the clock hit zero. They handed her that win.”
Another viewer wrote, “Slow the clip down. Seriously. You can HEAR the buzzer and THEN her answer. It wasn’t in time.”
Dozens of commenters noted that Wheel of Fortune has historically disqualified answers that came even a fraction of a second too late. This inconsistency left them feeling the judges were too lenient—or worse, trying to manufacture a feel-good moment for show ratings.
“Rules are rules,” someone argued. “Equal for every contestant. They can’t change them based on what makes good TV.”
Others accused the show of becoming softer under Seacrest, who took over hosting duties from Pat Sajak. Though Seacrest didn’t voice an opinion on the ruling, his reaction—surprised, enthusiastic, bordering on impressed—didn’t satisfy viewers who wanted a firmer stance or clearer explanation.
“It was close!” he exclaimed, smiling broadly at LaPilusa. “I’ve never seen anything that close!”
But closeness was exactly the issue.
If it was that close, should it have counted?
The debate became so heated that it spread beyond game-show fan communities and into general entertainment groups, where casual viewers weighed in after watching clips circulating online. Many argued that the show needed a transparent system for timing Bonus Round buzzer calls. Some suggested displaying a countdown clock on-screen so audiences could see the exact moment the timer hits zero.
Longtime viewers also reminisced about earlier eras of the show, claiming that stricter rule enforcement was once part of its identity. Whether that claim holds up historically is another question, but their nostalgia added even more emotion to an already divided conversation.
Meanwhile, some fans defended the judges, reminding everyone that:
They have access to precise audio timestamps
They review the exact moment syllables are spoken
They follow internal rules viewers don’t always know
They have final authority
This didn’t satisfy critics, who insisted that a win worth $40,000 should have an unmistakably clear ruling—not one left to interpretation.
One fan wrote, “If half the internet thinks it was late and half thinks it was early, that means the rules are too vague.”
Others saw the controversy as overblown drama. “This is a game show, not a Supreme Court case,” someone posted.
But for many viewers, Wheel of Fortune is more than just a game show. It’s a staple of American television, a tradition spanning decades, and moments like this hit at the heart of fairness, trust, and consistency—values the show has built its reputation on.
Sarah LaPilusa herself has not publicly commented on the controversy. Clips from the episode show her visibly emotional after the win, covering her face and laughing with relief. Whether she realized her answer was tightly timed, or whether she simply focused on solving the puzzle, remains unknown.
What is clear is that her win—and the manner in which it happened—will be remembered as one of the closest calls in recent Wheel of Fortune history.
In the days following the episode, conversations continued online. Some fans who watched the replay still argued she deserved the win. Some insisted the judges made a mistake. And a few took a more philosophical approach:
“She solved the puzzle. Isn’t that the whole point?”
vs.
“Anyone can solve a puzzle. The game is about solving it in time.”
Both arguments hold merit depending on how one values the rules versus the spirit of the game.
Meanwhile, others wondered what might have happened had the contestant been male, older, or less charismatic—suggesting that subconscious bias may have played a role. These debates, too, spun off into lengthy threads, revealing how many layers viewers can read into a single on-air moment.
Ryan Seacrest, for his part, kept his tone diplomatic and upbeat during the closing moments of the episode, offering praise but steering clear of judgment. This neutrality only added fuel for those insisting the call was controversial.
The truth is, unless Wheel of Fortune releases an official, detailed explanation—which they almost never do in cases like this—the debate will continue indefinitely. The episode will likely become one of the show’s most frequently rewatched clips during future retrospectives.
And Sarah LaPilusa’s name will be tied to a moment that sparked one of the most passionate fan reactions in years.
Whether she was a hero of lightning-fast thinking or the beneficiary of a questionable ruling depends entirely on who you ask.
What cannot be denied is that she created a moment of pure television electricity—a combination of pressure, urgency, instinct, and controversy that reminded audiences why live-taped game shows still captivate millions.
In an era when viewers can rewatch, slow down, analyze, and debate every second, maybe a little mystery is unavoidable. Maybe the tension between fairness and entertainment is part of why Wheel of Fortune continues to survive in a crowded media landscape.
Maybe the buzzer controversy, rather than hurting the show, actually revitalized interest.
Or maybe, as one commenter put it simply:
“Everyone calm down. She said fussy babies. We all need to go outside.”
Either way, the February 27 episode will go down as one of the most hotly discussed entries in the show’s long history. And whether fans think Sarah LaPilusa earned her win or not, there’s no denying she gave Wheel of Fortune something money can’t buy:
A moment no one will forget.
