Wheel of Fortune fans react to contestant’s ‘redemption’ return following his explicit viral answer

Fans rejoiced when Wheel of Fortune brought back a memorable contestant for a chance at redemption after his infamous viral moment.

In May, Tavaris Williams became an internet sensation — and left former host Pat Sajak nearly speechless — when he hilariously guessed “rite in the butt” while trying to solve a puzzle.

Now the show gave Tavaris another chance on Wednesday, pairing him with Sajak’s daughter, Maggie Sajak, for a special round of gaming in partnership with BetMGM.

This time, Tavaris redeemed himself with ease, solving all of Maggie’s Wheel of Fortune puzzles flawlessly.

‘Everyone gets a 2nd chance with @BetMGM!’ the Instagram video was captioned. ‘Tavaris made waves with his answer during our first BetMGM @WheelOfFortune week, but was unable to secure the W. So we brought him back for round 2 with @maggiesajak! Here’s to SALVATION!’

Fans flooded the comments section, excited to see their favorite viral contestant make a triumphant return.

“We love Tavaris,” one excited follower shared, while another commented, “This moment will outlast us all!” My great-great-grandchildren will know about Tavaris.”

“I can’t see anything but ‘RITE IN THE BUTT.’ Tavaris is the best,” another viewer joked.

Just days after Tavaris’ unforgettable blunder, he revealed Pat Sajak’s reaction to the accident off-camera.

“He made me feel great about that during the break,” Tavaris said on Jimmy Kimmel’s show.

“He said, ‘You know, we’ll find a tactful way to work it out. I don’t know how, but we’ll do it.’

Tavaris said he filmed the episode in April and admitted he told his wife about the moment he came home.

“I said to my wife immediately afterwards, ‘I will keep everything a secret except this – this is what you need to know,’” he recalled.

He told his wife that they could work the moment, but he wasn’t sure.

“And then it was out of sight, out of mind, until the world reminded me of what I said,” Tavaris said.

Jimmy then jokingly asked the Wheel contestant if “right in the ass” was a phrase he often used.

“I’ve never used those words in the right order in my life, Jimmy,” the contestant replied with a straight face.

Tavaris won $9,500 on the show and said he now: ‘Spreading many smiles around the world.’

The May 23 episode of the long-running game show featured Tavaris, who came in to guess a ‘Phrase’ puzzle.

This was during an early $1,000 coin toss round, where the random letters appear and the participants have to come in to solve the puzzle.

The letters shown were I in the second word, T and E in the third, and B, T and an exclamation point in the fourth.

Tavaris entered and guessed, “Right in the ass,” causing the audience to gasp and laugh, while another contestant exclaimed, “What?”

His eyes widened as he put down the buzzer, while others in the audience continued to laugh, especially since “good” is five letters and the first word in the puzzle is only four letters.

Another participant, Blake, luckily came up with the correct answer: “This is the best.”

Tavaris clapped, turned to Blake and joked, “Much better answer,” as the game continued.

When it came time for Pat to introduce the players, Tavaris’ off-color answer still made him giggle.

“Well, Tavaris, you’ve already impressed us,” Pat said, as the contestant apologized.

“My apologies, Pat. I was a little excited,” Tavaris said as the longtime host added, “We’ll figure out a way to handle that tastefully.” I have no idea what that will be, but…’

In June, Sajak, 77, retired from Wheel of Fortune after 43 years leading the game show.

Ryan Seacrest replaced him and will star in the show alongside Pat’s longtime co-host Vanna White.