'Wheel of Fortune' contestant's teacher won a car on the show in 1979 — but he fails to do the same

Crashing out in the bonus round of "Wheel of Fortune" after doing well in other stages of the game could be devastating. That holds especially true if your teacher has achieved the feat that you missed out on. That’s what one contestant faced in a recent episode of the show, in which he had come with his high school teacher. Turns out that this teacher was a contestant on the show many years ago, and she had won a car.

The contestant who played in the episode was a man named Anthony, who had already accumulated $16,710 in cash and prizes. Ahead of the Bonus Round, he introduced the two people who were there to support him. They were Mike and Courtney. The contestant revealed that Courtney was her teacher in high school and a former contestant. “She was a Wheel of Fortune contestant in 1979,” he said.

Host Ryan Seacrest was amazed after hearing this, before asking if she had won big at the time. Courtney said no, but later revealed that she had won a car. Seacrest wasn’t too sure about who the host was at the time, but Courtney cleared up his doubts. She was quite excited to see her student try to win big just like she had done all those years ago.

Once all that was done, it was time to play the game. Anthony gave the wheel a good spin, and it landed on the W. He had chosen the ‘Place’ category and, as per the rules of the show, was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. He then had the chance to pick three more consonants and one more vowel. Anthony chose the letters C, M, D, and A. Unfortunately, these were not the best choices.

The puzzle barely opened up, and what the contestant was left with read, “____A ___NT.” His ten-second clock started ticking, but there was not much he could do. He blurted out words like “Bodega” and “Arena,” but neither of them was correct. The puzzle was then revealed to be “Pizza Joint.” “And I love pizza. That’s my favorite,” he said. Seacrest then opened up the envelope to reveal that the contestant could have won a brand-new car, just like her teacher.

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Anthony was not too disappointed, though, as he was going home with a good amount of money either way. His teacher would have still been proud of him for coming so far in the competition. “It’s been a pleasure,” the contestant said in the end.

Watch the nostalgia-inducing moments in the video here.

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