The Wheel of Fortune contestant Christopher Coleman was fed up with being dragged through the mud.
Coleman appeared in the episode of The Wheel of Fortune on Tuesday night, where he and his colleagues Thomas Lipscomb and Laura Machado caused a stir when no one guessed the correct answer to the puzzle: “Another feather in your hat.”
Coleman said Thursday that he felt ridiculed, telling TMZ about the widespread hostility he has felt since the episode aired.
Wheel of Fortune contestant Christopher Coleman spoke about his experience in the long-running game show. Wheel of Fortune / ABC
“This idiom [‘Another feather in your cap,’] is something I learned when I was six or seven. But I haven’t heard it in more than 30 years, and it’s been a long time, “he began.
“You’re also under a lot of control and pressure when you’re in production,” Coleman said of his role on the set of Fortune. “Many people sit at home in the comfort of their own couch, shouting and screaming in front of the TV when WE [the contestants] are the ones now and in real time, trying to guess and understand what this puzzle is. ”
The correct puzzle that confused the contestants was “Another feather in your hat.” Wheel Of Fortune
“It’s sad that people say we are [the contestants] they were not intelligent and were trying to belittle our college diplomas, ”he continued.
Coleman then said a few words about the “trolls” who came for him on social media. “What I would say to trolls is, ‘You go there.’ Half of you don’t even have the skills to speak in public. You go to the Wheel of Fortune and get in your shoes where we stood. And then it will be a completely different conversation when they train and make donkeys out of themselves, “he said.
He explained that the moment was an “isolated incident” and he wanted people to “have more empathy and a little more grace and understanding”.
“Just be calmer with me and the other contestants, because we are very educated people and we don’t want to be put in a situation where we are ridiculed and publicly humiliated in a show that is a dream of a lifetime,” said Coleman.
He concluded by saying that although he did not regret much in his life, if he “knew then what I know now”, he would have solved the puzzle correctly instead of turning the wheel on his second attempt.
“I was wrong here and I take full responsibility,” he said.
Christopher Coleman, Thomas Lipscomb and Laura Machado appeared on the show Tuesday night.Wheel Of Fortune
Host Pat Sajak jumped in defense of his show yesterday and posted a long topic on Twitter, telling viewers to “have a little heart.”
“It always hurts me when nice people come to our show to play a game and make some money and maybe make a lifelong dream come true, and then they are ridiculed online when they make a mistake or something goes wrong.” writes the 75-year-old Sayak.
The host of the show for interesting facts added in part: “These are good people in a bad situation under a kind of stress that you can not begin to appreciate from the comfort of your couch. Good-natured laughter is one thing. Hell, they laughed at themselves. But, hey, relax them a little. Unless you’re there, you have no idea how different it is in the studio. ”