'Wheel of Fortune' contestant wows Ryan Seacrest with a special skill just before winning over $63,000

Game show hosts are well known for adding to the entertainment quotient with other talents, including comedy and dance. Ryan Seacrest, as the host of "The Wheel Of Fortune," has also displayed his breakdancing skills on the show, but once in a while, a multitalented contestant also makes an appearance. One such player whose skillset exceeded his ability to solve puzzles and spin wheels was Gerard Amento, who impressed everyone with his unique talent with a yo-yo.

The former competitive yo-yoer from Beaumont, California, appeared in the 2024 Season of the show. Amento shared that he had competed in various events across the world, but he is now a married man with two little girls. “When I was a teenager, I got into, you know, put in the work, got good with the yo-yo, the spinning disk, did some competitions, won some, got to do a lot of performances,” Amento added.

“But Ryan, I’ll tell you this, as they say in the yo-yo world, it has its ups and downs," he joked before demonstrating his yo-yo skills from the contestant's podium. Amento showed a few tricks that impressed the host, Ryan Seacrest, and everyone in the audience.

His puzzle-solving skills were as impressive and smooth as his yo-yo-ing, and even though he landed on the Bankrupt Wedge quite early in the game, he bounced back by acing a few puzzles in a row. In the end, Amento won the episode with $23,440 cash and a trip to Greece and Turkey worth $13,590.

The impressive yo-yo-er made it all the way to the Bonus Round with a chance of winning a new car or up to $100,000. He was joined by his wife on the stage who according to him was "clearly more excited" than he was. For the final puzzle, Amento picked the category "Phrase" and had to solve a long five-word puzzle. With the standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, and E" filled in, the player chose the additional letters, "C, B, M, and A". With this, the puzzle on the board read,  “T _ E _      _ A _ E    A        B R _ _ _ T      _ _ T _ R E.”

While to most the puzzle would seem challenging, Amento appeared as confident as ever. When the ten-second timer kicked off, he said out loud, “They Have A Bright Future,” without wasting any time. The guess turned out to be correct and Seacrest revealed that Amento had won an additional $40,000 from his golden envelope. “Unbelievable this guy,” the host said. 

Amento immediately ran over and hugged his wife who was in tears because of joy. She was so emotional that Seacrest handed her his handkerchief to her. Amento later held a watch party for his episode and took to Instagram to thank all the fans and the show for the special win. 

“Hey everyone! The response to my Wheel of Fortune episode has been overwhelming and is incredibly appreciated. It’s been so fun connecting again with people I haven’t seen in a long time and I’m honored people found me worthy to watch haha,” he wrote in the caption of his post.