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Clinton Township Man's Wheel Of Fortune Flub Goes Viral [VIDEO]

DETROIT (WWJ) - It's been shared and reshared on social media, and has appeared on TV talk shows: an embarrassing mistake that cost a metro Detroit man $9,000.

When James Trahan of Clinton Township appeared on Wheel of Fortune, the answer to the puzzle was "The Painted Desert."

The woman before him said guessed "The Pointed Desert" — and when his turn came:

"In my mind I was like, OK, here we go. There's $9,000 on the table here — all you gotta do is say painted," he told WWJ's Sandra McNeil."And for whatever reason my mouth kind of interjected said, you know, let's not say painted, say pointed. So, I did it twice."

Trahan said he's been hearing about it plenty.

"Well, luckily, all of my friends are jerks, so it's been nonstop since Friday, so I have them to thank," he said, with a laugh.

What kinds of comments has he been seeing online?

"I don't know if I can, you know, say them on air...but along the line of, 'This guy's birth certificate is just an apology letter from the condom factory — things like that," Tranhan said.

"A lot of people think, you know, I'm just dumb and an idiot and stupid or whatever," he added, "but it really was the nerves; it was incredible to be that exhilarated to, you know, win $9,000 and have your mouth say something else than your brain is thinking. It's crazy."

Tranhan said he's it's all in good fun, and he's taking it in stride.

But is he enjoying his 15 minutes of fame?

"My one buddy was like, 'What would you rather have: nine grand or all this publicity?' I immediately told him, no, I'd rather have nine grand."

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