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'Wheel of Fortune' player loses $75,000 in 'cursed' bonus round despite her dad cheering for her

The contestant got the first part of the puzzle right but wasn't able to solve it in time.
PUBLISHED JUL 7, 2025
The contestant failing to solve the puzzle (Cover image source: YouTube | Wheel of Fortune)
The contestant failing to solve the puzzle (Cover image source: YouTube | Wheel of Fortune)

The Bonus Round on “Wheel of Fortune” has left fans disappointed so many times that many are now calling it cursed. Although the losing streak came to an end after 19 games, contestants such as Celina Alvarado experienced heartbreaking losses. She had played a fantastic game, which helped her reach the Bonus Round. By that point, she had already won $30,350. However, the final round proved to be a tougher challenge than she could handle.

Alvarado had brought her dad on the show, and the two shared a sweet moment together. “Wish you the best of luck,” he said to her daughter. “So sweet. I don’t want to interrupt this moment,” host Ryan Seacrest said. The contestant was a Zumba instructor as per a report in TV Insider, and she might have done a little dance to celebrate had she won the final round. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

She picked the ‘Person’ category and, as per the rules of the game, was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. After these letters were revealed in the puzzle, Alvarado had the choice to pick three more consonants and one more vowel. She chose the letters M, P, D, and I. Unfortunately, these letters did not do much to help her, as the puzzle didn’t open up as much as she might have hoped.

Screenshot showing Ryan Seacrest (L) and the contestant on
Screenshot showing Ryan Seacrest (L) and the contestant on "Wheel of Fortune." (Image credit: YouTube | Wheel of Fortune)

It now read “TRI_I_  _ _ _ _.” Her 10 seconds began counting down, and the contestant looked lost right from the start. She guessed the first word correctly to be ‘trivia’ but had no idea what the second word was. After the timer counted down to 0, the correct answer was revealed to be ‘trivia buff.’ This was a tough one to get, and Seacrest revealed that the contestant lost the chance to win an additional $75,000.



 

Had she gotten the puzzle right, she would have taken home more than $105,000. Fans of the show agreed that it was a hard puzzle to get right and made their thoughts clear in the comments section of the clip on YouTube. “The $75,000 envelope is obviously cursed at this point since no one won it at all this season,” one fan wrote. “It's amazing how close someone could be, but it's still so far away,” remarked another. “Got the first word, but not the second one,” commented a viewer.

The most heartbreaking puzzles are those that seem tough at first but then reveal one of the simplest answers. That’s exactly what happened on a different episode of the show in which a contestant lost $40,000 after failing to guess one of the most commonly used terms. She had picked the letters H, D, M, and I, after which, the puzzle read, “_ _ _ _ IN THE D_ _.”



 

The contestant could only say, "Made in the day,” in her 10 seconds, but that was not the correct answer. The puzzle then revealed itself to be, “Back in the day.” Seacrest then revealed that the contestant had lost a lot of money.

More on Market Realist:

'Wheel of Fortune' fans slam player who lost $40,000 after failing to solve one obvious letter

'Wheel of Fortune' fans are feeling sorry for player who lost Toyota car because of a single letter

'Wheel of Fortune' contestant fails to solve puzzle even though the most important word was obvious

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