'Wheel of Fortune' player picks up Ryan Seacrest while hugging him despite losing out on $40,000
It's natural for people to get too excited after a win on game shows such as "Wheel of Fortune" and go overboard in celebrations. But someone getting excited after a loss and doing something over-the-top is unheard of. It happened when a self-confessed hugger lost out on prizes and got a hug from Ryan Seacrest, who he proceeded to lift up out of enthusiasm.
In the episode, Bill Friskey, from Merkel, Texas, went up against two players to fulfill his dream of spinning the Wheel. The self-proclaimed outdoors lover shared that he loved going camping with his wife. Seacrest also gave Friskey a camping food tip and asked him to carry Sardines. “They’re so easy. Peel back and eat them with a fork right out of the container,” Seacrest said. However, the player told him that he didn't like the fish but he would take the host for his word. “You’re not going to try it, are you?” Seacrest joked about moving on, as per TV Insider.
Steele started with a flyer in the first toss-up round and solved a few puzzles back to back. However, he landed on the “Bankrupt” wedge halfway through. He made a comeback by solving the Mystery Round and earned the lead with $4,550.
The Prize Round brought another bankruptcy for Friskey, but he ended up solving the puzzle to win another $1,200 and a trip to the Alpines. In the Triple Toss-up round, Friskey fought back and won $4,000 to become the night's big winner with $15,249, in total. Going into the Bonus Round, he picked the category “What are you doing?” Friskey brought his wife, Tracy, with him, and Seacrest asked her about their camping trips and the food they ate. She told the host that they “eat everything” including which steaks they cook on the barbeque. “Maybe we’ll add some sardines into it," Friskey said mocking the host.“Now he’s making fun of me!” Seacrest said looking at the camera.
Going ahead, Firskey was faced with a three-word puzzle. With the standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, and E,” filled in, he chose “C, M, D, and O," as his additional letters for the puzzle. With this, the bonus puzzle on the board read, “_ _ _ _ _ N_ _T O_T.” Friskey didn't look confident as he was missing quite a few letters on the board. When the ten-second timer kicked off, the player tried his best to guess the activity. While he got the last two words, “It Out,” right, he was scrambling for the first word. After the time ran out, the answer was revealed to be "HUGGING IT OUT". “Aww. And I’m a hugger!” the contestant groaned as he read the answer.
Seacrest went on to add context by saying, “The irony was during the commercial break, he said ‘Can I give you a hug?". The host then asked Friskey to give him a big hug.
In the end, the player got to squeeze the host and walk home with $15,249 and a trip.
