‘Wheel of Fortune’: Navy Veteran Suffers $100,000 Loss on ‘Impossible Puzzle’

Navy veteran Nekeia Borders, from Dallas, Texas, lost out on an additional $100,000 after the Wheel of Fortune Bonus Round didn’t treat her too fondly in a February episode that reaired on Friday (August 1). She was behind all game until one of her competitors spun $6,000 for each letter for the final puzzle.

Borders, who is now a supervisor at a major chain in a shopping center, played against Abby Gerlemann, from Hermann, Missouri, and Patrick Thomassie, from Chicago, Illinois.

Borders obtained a Wild Card during the game, despite only solving two puzzles, which she got to take to the Bonus Round. She chose “Phrase.”

Wheel of Fortune gave her R, S, T, L, N, and E. Borders chose D, M, P, I, and C,” due to the wild card. Her puzzle then looked like “L_ _ _   _ _C _   _ IT_  _ _N_NESS.”

As the clock counted down, Borders said random words such as “Kindness,” “Mindness,” and “Late,” but she couldn’t figure out the puzzle. It was “LOOK BACK WITH FONDNESS.”

Host Ryan Seacrest opened the envelope to reveal the $100,000 prize and a trip to India. “Ooooh,” he said. Borders threw her head back, turned in a circle, and stamped her feet as the crowd groaned. She left with $34,000 and said that she is “not complaining.”

Fans on YouTube complained how “impossible” the puzzle was after it was posted on the platform.

“Yeah, that was impossible. You had to call the right letters to have any chance,” one fan said.

“That was a very difficult puzzle, but she still took home a bulk of cash! Congratulations,” another wrote. 

“Honestly, this puzzle was very HARD,” added a third.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have gotten it either. That was really hard,” one last fan said. 

Despite making it to the Bonus Round, Borders didn’t have the best luck at the beginning of the game. She solved the $2,000 toss-up, and then stayed at that amount until the fourth puzzle, where he opponents spun $6,000 per consonant. Borders solved “Welcome to the Jungle,” which put her at $34,000. She also obtained a Wild Card during that round.

Her opponents, Thomassie, a huge Britney Spears fan, had $19,298 and a trip to Spain, and Gerlemann, a stay-at-home mom, had $21,350.

Borders spoke out about her win on Threads. “Whew!!!! Y’all worked me this Super Bowl weekend ya hear me!!!! Calls/DMs/texts, oh my!!!! 🥰🥰🥰 People I haven’t talked to in forever showed up and showed out coast to coast to see me on TV!!! I Love Y’all Real Big!!! ” she wrote.

Wheel of Fortune, Season 43, September 8, check local listings