'Wheel of Fortune' contestant shares her experience after winning $1 million on the show

Winning a million dollars on "Wheel of Fortune" is a very rare feat, and the show recently got its first million-dollar winner of the Ryan Seacrest era. Fans can't stop talking about it, after the contestant, Christina Derevjanik, pulled off a near-perfect game to win more than $35,000 before reaching the Bonus Round. In the end, her million-dollar wedge provided her a chance at the big prize, and she spectacularly solved the final puzzle to become the first million-dollar winner of the new Season. She recently spoke to TV Insider, sharing that she had considered quitting her job after the big win, and that she was excited to plan her life ahead.

When her grand total was revealed to be $1,035,155, the highest any contestant has ever won on the show, Seacrest went on to say, “Congratulations, you’re my first million-dollar winner. I have a tear in my eye." When asked if the win had sunk in yet, Derevjanik shared that it took a few days for her to feel that it was all real.

Derevjanik also shared that she had come to the taping of the show with her boss, who had previously joked about her quitting the job after winning big. "It was a funny little joke that my boss/ friend and I had because she accompanied me to the taping. So the whole trip there, we were like, 'Well, if you win a million dollars, I guess I should probably expect you to be putting in your two weeks’ notice.' I was like, 'Yep.' And, in your mind, you’re like, 'That’s never gonna happen,'” she shared with the publication. She then confirmed that she was going back to work as she loved her job.

Speaking about her plans with the winnings, Derevjanik told the interviewer, "I also have a couple of trips coming up that I won from the show — Montana and Tokyo. So, I’m looking forward to just taking a couple of great trips and enjoying the financial freedom that this now offers me."

She added that keeping her win a secret till the episode aired was extremely hard for her."I mean, four months of keeping that to myself, such a big event in my life, to kind of hide that from everyone for so long was really difficult," she said.

About how Seacrest and Co-host, Vanna White, reacting to her win, Derevjanik shared that she spoke to them for quite some time afterwards, given it was Seacrest’s first million-dollar win since he took over as the host. "I was Ryan’s first million-dollar winner as well, so he had been manifesting this. I heard this was his New Year’s resolution. So the fact that I was the one who was actually able to bring that to reality was just so cool, such a great experience. And everyone on the show, from the producers to Ryan to Vanna, was just so wonderful the entire day," she shared.

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