'Wheel of Fortune' contestant squeezes Ryan Seacrest in excitement after winning $58,000
People winning trips, cash, and cars on "Wheel of Fortune" is something that has been going on for decades, but it's their reactions that make the game show entertaining. Contestants are known to go overboard after winning, and when one of them won more than $58,000 on the show, she didn't shy away from including the host, Ryan Seacrest, and her family in the celebration.
In the episode, Reyna, a fifth-grade history teacher and sixth-grade geography teacher from Philadelphia, took the game by storm by nearly smothering her competition, before throwing her arms around Seacrest. After the initial rounds of the game, the contestant amassed a total of $18,500 in prize money and an exotic trip to Spain. She emerged victorious in the game and made her way to the "Bonus Round" of the show.
For the grand finale, Reyna was joined by her brother-in-law, sister, and best friend, on stage to cheer her on. She picked the category “Place” for the final puzzle and went on to spin the wheel to earn her 'Golden Envelope.' “Great night for you so far!” host Ryan Seacrest said to the player as she took center stage. In the bonus round, Reyna was faced with a two-word puzzle. With the standard letters"R, S, T, L, N, E" filled in, Reyna chose “C, D, M, and A" as her additional letters. Unfortunately, her letter picks did not help her much as in the end, the puzzle read, “R_ _ M _ C _ ND _."
While it seemed like Reyna had made a huge blunder while picking her vowel, the player did not look worried at all. Her face beamed with confidence as the ten-second timer showed up on the screen. “I think I know,” she told a worried Seacrest, who assured her that she still had 10 seconds to solve it.
As soon as the clock started ticking, Reyna solved the puzzle "ROOMY CONDO" within two seconds to take the win. "Guess what! You got it!" the overjoyed host exclaimed as the winner went crazy on the stage. She threw her arms up and hugged Seacrest before he could reveal what was inside the golden envelope.
Adding to her delight, Seacrest went on to flip the cards, revealing that Reyna had won an additional $40,000 from her golden envelope. She was then joined by her family on stage for a group hug.
In the end, Seacrest noted that Reyna's impressive performance on the show had won her a total of $58,500. “Well done!” the host said in the end. Viewers at home were equally impressed with the contestant's performance, and many took to the comments section on YouTube to compliment the player.
"What a well-deserved win, Reyna! Congratulations, and thank you for all your work guiding students to success!" @MasteryCharterSchools wrote. Many noted that despite the letter setback, Reyna did incredibly well. "That was a pretty good solve with a fighting chance by Reyna and didn't need the "O's", and the "C", "D" & "M" saved her, no problem, and won 40k," @jacobwilson6192 explained.
