‘Wheel of Fortune’ player breaks unlucky streak of landing on bankruptcy wedge to win $60,000

"Wheel of Fortune" fans were left scratching their heads after a contestant landed in a bankruptcy curse. The player, Melissa Brickey, seemed to be caught up in a loop of losing her winnings before she finally broke the curse to win big. In the end, all was well, as she ended up cracking the $40,000 Bonus Round puzzle to win a total of over $60,000.

In the episode, Brickey from St. Louis, Missouri, played against Brent Lau from Bakersfield, California, and Tanijah Johnson from Malvern, Pennsylvania. She started the game with a flyer by solving the first two puzzles, taking an early lead. However, in the Crossword round, she landed on the Bankrupt wedge to lose it all. Luckily, the other two contestants also landed on the same, one after the other, prompting the host, Ryan Seacrest, to say, “Shall we have a conversation with this wheel? What are you doing to us?!” according to TV Insider. 

Johnson briefly broke the curse by landing on $800, but on the very next spin, she landed on the Bankrupt wedge again. Brickey then gave another spin to the wheel, and she, too, landed on the Bankrupt wedge again, losing everything. “So, I’m new here. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” the host quipped. But the curse didn't end there. Both Lau and Johnson spun the wheel again, and they landed on the very same wedge.

This time, Seacrest banged his head on the table and begged for help from his co-host, Vanna White. Finally, Brickey broke the curse after landing on $600 and solving the puzzle, “Eyelashes, Lips, Pupils, Cheeks.” She went on to solve a few more in the coming rounds to win a total of $20,050 and a cruise trip to Tahiti. 

Victorious in the end, she chose the "Food & Drink" category for her Bonus Round puzzle. Alongside Seacrest at the wheel, Brickey was joined by her husband, David, on the stage. After picking out her prize envelope, she was faced with a two-word puzzle. With the show's standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, E,” on the board, she chose “P, D, C, and O” as her additional letters. With this, her puzzle read: “PO_C_ED S_L_ON.”

As soon as Seacrest kicked off the timer, Brickey didn't waste a single second to guess the correct answer: "Poached Salmon." As the host celebrated her win, he went on to reveal that the player had won an additional $40,000, giving her a grand total of $60,050. 

While Seacrest had a tough time managing the curse, viewers at home were both baffled and delighted in the end. "Nice ending after a rough front-game - which BTW, Ryan showed more personality reacting to all the Bankrupts in Round 1 than Pat has shown in the last decade," wrote @digiblader1 in the comments of the show's YouTube clip. "The first $40,000 win of the season! Well done, Melissa! After all of the bankrupts and losing a turn tonight!" added @griffinholahan123. 

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