Outraged Jeopardy! fans call out show for accepting 'wrong answer' that helped decide the winner

Regular viewers of Jeopardy! fumed as judges allowed a factually incorrect answer to be given to the eventual winner.

If your name is Evan Dorey, you might be smug looking at your bankroll! This is because the data analytics director cashed in big time on Jeopardy!' during Wednesday's dramatic showdown.

During the Final Jeopardy of the episode, Dorey gave an answer which apparently for the judges was close enough to be considered a win.

Now, fans have called out the show for doing so.

Taking to TVInsider, one commented: "It's wrong. No discussion. And when a contestant forgets to answer in the form of a question, it's wrong. No exceptions."

Another added: "The ruling was wrong. If it had been a verbal response, it would not have been accepted."

While a third said: "The judges were wrong. I think they have been inconsistent in their rulings lately."

So, you can see people are pretty vexed about the situation - but some people believe the rules are open to interpretation.

Fans have fumed over the 'incorrect answer' provided by the eventual winner (NBC)

I'll talk to through the final stages - there were three contestants in play: Joey DeSena, Lois Dioro and of course Dorey, of Toronto, Canada.

DeSena was on $7,400 while Dioro and Dorey both had $14,600 - so it was possible for DeSena to still cause an upset.

They draw the category 'poetry and places', with the clue reading: “It’s the geographic word in the title of a Robert Burns poem about 'the mountains … covered with snow … the straths & green valleys below'.

Dioro answers 'Scotland', DeSena says 'Moor' and the Dorey wraps up the three 'incorrect answers' with 'highland', but was given the nod with Ken Jennings saying 'and we will accept that' - instantly doubling the Canadian's score to $29,200.

So, what was the actual answer?

Evan Dorey won with the answer 'highland' (NBC)

It was 'highlands' - the 50-year-old host replied: "'My Heart’s In The Highlands‘ is the name of the poem.”

So you can see why the show's judges let him off by one technicality - but fans didn't see it that way.

One reader commented on the outlets page: "Asking for the word is singular....so is Highland. The clue is ambiguous, thus open to interpretation. Case closed."

While a second barked back: "And the single WORD is Highlands. It's not open to interpretation. Case successfully appealed!"

Where do you sit on the matter? I think it's fair enough to let him off, but I'm not a religious viewer.

UNILAD has contacted NBC for comment.