'Wheel of Fortune' player misses out on an extra $75,000 after struggling with easy final puzzle
The latest season of "Wheel of Fortune" is here, and fans are excited. However, the first episode of the 42nd season didn't give a lot to cheer about as a contestant lost out on taking home over $111,000. The player, Alvin Rosales, who uplifted the mood of the studio with his quirky antics, made it to the finale with big money. After getting scolded by the host, Ryan Seacrest, for yelling in excitement, Rosales fumbled an easy phrase, "Kind Of A Big Deal" in the Bonus Round, suffering a huge loss.
In the episode, Rosales from San Leandro went up against Lauren Davis from Deer Park, Texas, and Erica Edwards from Chicago, Illinois. Kicking off the "Year of Fun" season, Rosales got a rough start as Davis took an early lead by solving the first Toss Up puzzle. The player who shared that her mom also appeared on the show back in 1998, took the early lead with $2,000. Rosales then made a comeback in the second Toss Up round to level the scores with Davis. However, both players were taken by shock after Edwards racked up $24,500 by the end of the Mystery Round.
However, Rosales didn't give up and mounted a strong comeback in the very next round. He cracked the prize puzzle in the Express Round to win a 7-night trip to the Jamala Wildlife Lodge in Canberra, Australia, worth $13,332, according to Andy Nguyen's blog. He then went on to solve more puzzles in the following rounds to emerge as the big winner of the night with a total of $36,232 and the trip.
Advancing to the Bonus Round, Rosales selected “Phrase” and was joined by her sister, Gina, on the stage for support. Alongside Seacrest at the wheel, Rosales pointed to Gina's sweatshirt, which read, “Alvin is a Wheel Good Pick!". As Gina showed her sweatshirt to the camera, Rosales yelled, "The sweatshirt made it on TV!” prompting Seacrest to say, “You don’t have to yell. She’s only five feet away."
After getting the scolding and picking out his Golden Envelope, Rosales was faced with a five-word puzzle on the board. With the show's standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, E,” on the board, he chose “M, D, F, and A” as his additional letters. With this, his final puzzle read, “_ _ND _F A _ _ _ DEAL.”
As soon as Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, it looked like Rosales was at a loss for the first word. At the same time, he yelled out guesses like, “Band of a Big Deal,” “Hand of a Big Deal,” and “Pand of a Big Deal,” none of which were correct. Co-host Vanna White then revealed the answer, and no one was more disappointed than the player. To add to the heartbreak, Seacrest revealed that he had lost out on winning an additional $75,000, which would have taken his total to $111,232.
However, the player took the loss on the chin, and the fans were happy to see the show back on TV. "This episode was KIND OF A BIG DEAL, with it being the first of the season, AND WITH THE $75,000 envelope!" wrote one fan, @GeorgeMcMichaelson, in the comments of the show's YouTube clip.
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