Wheel of Fortune competitor's curious gaffe costs him $1 million opportunity TV and Radio A Wheel of Fortune contestant has watched his $1 million opportunity slip away with the slip of a tongue, in a moment that left him and the studio audience speechless. The US game show is considered one of the most successful long-running syndicated shows, which attracts about 30 million viewers each week and has even won an Emmy in 2011. But only two contestants have ever won $1 million over the course of the show's history, according to its website. In his excitement at having landed on the $1 million wedge and haste in knowing the answer to the almost complete three word puzzle, contestant Paul Atkinson mispronounced the word "curio" (which was already spelled out) and it was dismissed as an incorrect answer. The video, which appears on YouTube with Tuesday's date, shows Atkinson's face drop when game show host Pat Sajak moves on to the next competitor, who purposefully over-enunciates what Atkinson clearly fumbled: "Corner Curio Cabinet." Following strict guidelines, the judges only took three seconds to sound the buzzer against Atkinson but even Sajak looked uncomfortable as they went to an ad break, reassuring Atkinson "we'll take a look at it, to make sure we treated you fairly." Even if Atkinson had answered correctly he was not assured of winning the $1 million. He still had to win the entire game and get through to the $1m bonus round, during which he would have only 10 seconds to give the correct answer. Instead he had to watch on as rival "Lewis" claimed a paltry $1000 for having better pronunciation.