'Wheel of Fortune' contestant solves $45,000 puzzle in just seconds — leaves Ryan Seacrest stunned
The contestant, Jodi Hope took home $75,000, using her puzzle solving skills.
Oct. 21 2025, Published 8:45 a.m. ET
"Wheel of Fortune" fans and the host are often stunned when a good player loses out on a big prize. But once in a while, a contestant manages to surprise Ryan Seacrest by pulling off a quick win with a perfect game. One such player was Jodi Hope, who solved a puzzle in a couple of seconds and won $45,000 with lightning speed. The host could only yell out, "Wow! You couldn't have done that any quicker!" In the end, Hope took home a whopping $75,000, giving the fans something to cheer about.
She got off to a rough start as her rival took the early lead by solving the first Toss-Up puzzle. However, she made a strong comeback in the Express Round to pick up a Wild Card. Hope fought back harder in the Triple Toss Up round, where she solved two out of the three puzzles to take the lead at the very last moment. In the end, she emerged as the big winner with $30,000, while Meneghini came in second with $14,870.
Advancing to the Bonus Round, Hope chose the category, "Phrase," for her final puzzle and joined Seacrest at the wheel. She brought her friend, Chris, to the stage to cheer her on before spinning the wheel. Once she picked out her Golden Envelope, she was faced with a three-word puzzle on the board. With the show's standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, and E,” on the board, Hope chose “D, C, M, I" and the extra consonant "H", using her Wild Card. Despite the extra letter, all she had on the board was, “_ _IC_EN _ _ _R _ _CE.”
Even with a few letters on the board, it seemed like Hope had it all figured, before Seacrest kicked off the timer. Once the clock started ticking, Hope yelled out the correct answer, "Quicken Your Pace," within two seconds. She left Seacrest stunned with the lightning-quick solve as he exclaimed, “Wow! You got it!” He then went on to reveal that the player had won an additional $45,000 before adding how she couldn’t have solved the puzzle any quicker than a couple of seconds. He then went on to ask the player, “How’d you do that so fast? It just struck you,” to which her response was, “It did!”
As Hope won more than $75,000 in one night, even the fans were impressed. "Great job on defeating the Qu trick and avoiding the shutout Jodi!! Great stuff!!" wrote one fan, @sammylerman7136, in the YouTube comments. "Jodi, that was a miracle!" added another viewer, @itetpirsonicfan3931.
Watch the impressive game here.
More on Market Realist: