Florida woman with southern accent denied Wheel of Fortune prize for mispronouncing 'swimming'

A woman with a southern accent lost out on thousands of dollars on Wheel of Fortune because the judges ruled against her pronunciation of a common word.

Renee Durette, a Navy intel specialist from Merritt Island, Fla., guessed several letters in the puzzle correctly – and then went on to solve it.

The answer was “Seven Swans a Swimming” – but she pronounced “swimming” as “swimmin’.”

Judges on the Wheel of Fortune said they could not accept her answer. She lost out on the $3,850 she had earned on that

“That’s kind of how I speak, you know, being from Florida and I asked for the ‘g’ so I knew it was there,” Durette told ABC’s Good Morning America.

ABC said the judges claimed Durette violated the rules because it was spoken in vernacular.

Durette ended up losing the show, and plenty of viewers spoke out about the judges’ call on social media.
“Wheel of Fortune...really? You all made a terrible call with "Seven Swans A-Swimming". She needs a dual run!! #boycotting,” said @ColbyPerry on Twitter.

But @elyoBSekiM disagreed, saying “Pronunciation matters!"

Durette said the decision didn’t kill her excitement for the experience.

“I had an absolute amazing experience,” Durette told ABC. “It’s just been so funny to see where I've been and what kind of Internet footprint I have now and it’s kind of been so crazy.”

What do you think about the judge’s decision? Chime in via the comment box below.