Ryan Seacrest mocks 'Wheel of Fortune' player over a gesture — then she walked away with $63,000

Different game show hosts have different styles of interacting with contestants, and while some, like Drew Carey, are known to be kind, others, such as Steve Harvey, take every opportunity to roast people. As the new host of “Wheel of Fortune,” Ryan Seacrest is trying his best to carry on Pat Sajak's legacy while standing out for his own style. In a recent episode of the show, he mocked a contestant’s mannerism in the Bonus Round, but the player had the last laugh after she shrugged it off and went on to win big.

The name of the contestant was Jill, and she had accumulated over $23,000 in cash and prizes before the final round of the show. She was there with a couple of her friends who were cheering her on. “Now, are these friends from the dinner discussion nights?” Seacrest asked. “We did have a dinner discussion last night, actually, and we actually drank,” she replied.

When she spoke about the drinking part, she put her hand over her mouth as if she was saying it in confidence to the host. However, Jill was mic’d up, and everyone heard it, and Seacrest made it a point to mock that gesture. He, too, put his hand over his mouth and said, “Even when you cover your mouth, we hear you.” The host then asked the contestant about the topic of discussion at this dinner, where she apparently drank.

“There was one that said, how would your mom describe you? How would your last boyfriend describe you?” the contestant said. “Well, I can’t answer that one, but my mom would say very tall and strapping,” Seacrest answered. That was enough chit-chat, and now it was time to play the game. Jill spun the wheel, and it landed on the A card. She had chosen the phrases category for her puzzle. As is the norm, she was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. However, these did not do her any favor as it only uncovered one letter of the puzzle. It read, “_ _____ _E____.” That’s not a lot to go on at all, and the contestant had to pick her letters perfectly. Jill didn’t take too long before asking for the letters M, C, D, and A. These were good choices as they opened up a lot of the puzzle.

After these were revealed, the puzzle read, “A _A___ MED__M.” She then had 10 seconds to solve the puzzle, but it didn’t take her that long. After only a couple of seconds, Jill said, “A happy medium.” That was the correct answer. “She’s a winner,” the host said as the answer was revealed. She ended up adding $40,000 to her winnings, which went up to more than $63,000.

Fans loved the win and congratulated the contestants in the comments section on YouTube. “Congratulations Jill on winning $40,000 for a total of $63,749 well done,” one user commented. “Good letters she picked!! Helped me solve it fast. Congratulations Jill,” quipped another. She had also won a trip to the Canadian Rockies.