‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Go Wild for Einstein Lookalike on Show

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A contestant on the Wednesday, February 19, Wheel of Fortune episode set fans talking because many thought he was a dead ringer for noted genius Albert Einstein. While others thought he looked just like Doctor Emmett Brown from Back to the Future.

But while Michael Kroll is not an inventor or time traveler like his doppelgängers, the creative writer from Oakland, California, sure seems to lead an interesting life. He has published his own novel and is most proud of the the writing he has done in juvenile halls, where he teaches students to make their own creative stories. The WOF contestant also revealed that he loves snakes and tried to catch a cobra when one came into his classroom when he was teaching in the Peace Corps in Malaysia.

“What could I do but catch it?” Kroll asked.

“No, you could run,” host Ryan Seacrest joked.

Kroll’s likeness to Einstein helms from his long poufy white hair and bushy mustache. He wore a brown patterned sweater and a plain black shirt underneath.

Wheel of Fortune fans went wild for Kroll and immediately compared him to Einstein online.

“This guy on @WheelofFortune looks just like Albert Einstein! Maybe this is his brother Michael Einstein..?” one X user wrote, adding a picture of him to his tweet.

“Who let Einstein on Wheel of Fortune? @WheelofFortune,” tweeted another.

“I had no idea Dr. Emmett Brown was on WOF. Nice. #WheelofFortune,” a fan wrote, adding a gif of the famous character.

“#WheelOfFortune That is Albert Einstein reincarnated!!!! You can’t change my mind!” a fan said.

“Why is no one commenting on the fact that that Michael guy looks like the doctor from Back To The Future?” an Instagram user asked.

Kroll played against Whitney Smith from Bushnell, Florida, who is a construction worker that likes hunting, fishing, and crocheting, and Ify Unachukwu, from Woodland Hills, California, who was born in Nigeria. She is a virtual reality fan and uses it daily and is number six of 22 siblings.

Despite looking like two smart men, did Kroll live up to the expectations? Before the first commercial break, Kroll had no money. During the Mystery Round, his knowledge caught up to him as he solved a puzzle that had viewers questioning their own intelligence. The category was “Before & After.” He solved most of the puzzle, almost completely guessing one word, But, Kroll called out an “L,” in which there was none, and the turn moved to Unachukwu. Both she and Smith guessed letters, but couldn’t quite figure it out.

The turn went back to Kroll, who solved the puzzle, which was “Gravy Boat Skipper.” He racked up $4,600 and a Wild Card from that round.

 

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The clip was posted to Wheel‘s Instagram page and fans were left confused on what that meant.

“The heck is a Gravy Boat? I’ve heard of a gravy TRAIN, but never a gravy BOAT,” one fan asked.

“Grand boat skipper?” a few others guessed.

Kroll fell behind when Smith landed on an express wedge and got to rack up $1,000 per letter she guessed, bringing her to $27,000.

During the Toss-up round, fans were left confused again by the third puzzle. The first two in “What are you doing?” turned out to be “Protecting the trees” and “Protecting the seas,” but the third one did not make a lot of sense to fans. Kroll guessed the first two, but no one guessed “Protecting the plate” for number three.

Some Reddit users didn’t know what the third one meant, and clearly weren’t sports fans.

“Protecting the plate? What does that even mean?” a fan asked.

“We were so baffled,” said another. However, some viewers explained that it was a baseball term.

Before the final puzzle, Kroll’s total was $8,600. Unachukwu was in third with $1,650. Smith was leading with $27,460. The women outsmarted him in the final puzzle, where he only guessed one letter. Unachukwu guessed “snorkeling gear,” bringing her total closer to Kroll’s.

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Her final total was $8,250 while Kroll was just ahead of her with $8,600. Smith blew them both out the park with $27,460 and a trip.

For the Bonus Round, Smith chose “Place.” For her letters, she chose “H, D, G, and O,” after being given “R, S, T, L , N, and E.” Smith got a lot of letters and her puzzle looked like: “_OGG_NG  _ _ TH.” Before even counted down the ten seconds, she called out “Jogging path,” and added $40,000 to her total, which made her grand total $67,460.