A former “American Idol” auditioner tried his luck on “Wheel of Fortune” and Ryan Seacrest, who hosts both “Idol” and “Wheel,” made a brief comment about the situation. Seacrest was quick to jokingly pass the blame for the contestant not making it through on “Idol.”
‘American Idol’ Hopeful Competes on ‘Wheel of Fortune’
During the January 14 episode of “Wheel of Fortune,” Shayne Cowell, who auditioned for “American Idol” in 2006, made it to the Bonus Round.
“I blame the judges for everything,” Seacrest joked about Cowell not progressing further on “American Idol.”
Unfortunately, the contestant wasn’t successful in solving the Bonus Round puzzle, but he made out okay. Cowell won a trip to Europe during one puzzle, solved all three Triple Toss-Ups, and solved the final puzzle, earning a final total of $29,148.
For the Bonus Round, he chose “Phrase” for the category and the letters H, G, P, and I — in addition to R, S, T, L, N, E provided by “Wheel of Fortune.”
The first two words of the phrase were not revealed, and all but the first letter of the final word was shown.
He unsuccessfully tried to work out the phrase, guessing, “Pick a Flight,” “Take a Flight,” “Fly a Flight,” “Go For A Flight,” and “Catch a Flight.”
The answer was “Book a Flight.”
“You were so close to it!” Seacrest said.
Cowell would have won $45,000 and a trip to Finland had he guessed correctly.
Contestant Shared Excitement Over ‘Childhood Dream Fulfilled’
On December 29, 2025, Cowell shared details of his “Wheel of Fortune” appearance, noting on Instagram: “I have been sitting on a piece of news I have been DYING to share with everyone, and I got the green light to do it on a large scale today.”
“I’M GONNA BE A CONTESTANT ON AN UPCOMING EPISODE OF WHEEL OF FORTUNE!!” he announced. “Anyone that knows me knows I’m a HUGE game show fan, so this was a childhood dream fulfilled!”
Cowell continued, ‘I filled out the application on the #wheeloffortune website back in August. I then got contacted in September for the next stage of the audition process by producers, which involved a Zoom meeting and 16 demo WOF puzzles partially filled in (I aced all 16). They contacted me in October to invite me to Sony Pictures studio in LA for the taping, which Robert and I did the second week of November!”
He added, “I’m contractually obligated to not say how I did, but I CAN say that my episode is to air Wednesday, January 14, and the next day on Peacock! I hope y’all tune in and I make you proud!”
