‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Loses $76,000 After Husband Ditches Show
A Wheel of Fortune contestant’s husband didn’t show up for her during the Bonus Round, which caused her to lose out on taking home $76,000. Fans thought the puzzle was extremely tough.
Veronica Yanno, from Watsonville, California, played against Chet Gnet, from Palatine, Illinois, and JJ Williams, from Tuskegee, Alabama, on December 15. Yanno sang in a heavy metal band in the ’80s. She appeared on The Price Is Right in 2023 and won $9.87.
She solved the first toss-up, and Gnet, a sneaker lover, solved the second. Gent solved most of the letters in the first puzzle, but the turn moved to Williams, a woman who got proposed to on Christmas Eve, when he incorrectly solved “Pet Peeve.” Williams gained the wild card when she solved “Standing in Front of the Escalator.” She put $1,000 in her bank.
Yanno tied with Gent for $2,000 when she solved “Still in Their Prime Rib.” Yanno rode the express train during the prize puzzle, putting $6,000 in her bank before solving “Oh The Places You’ll Go!” She won a trip to Norway, which brought her total to $15,599. Her husband told her before the show that he wanted to take her to see the Northern Lights, and now they can.
Yanno solved two of the three Triple Toss Ups, and Gnet solved the third one. With only a few letters on the board, Yanno solved the final puzzle — “In The Blink Of An Eye.” This gave her a final total of $21,099, advancing her to the Bonus Round.
Gnet took home $4,000. Williams left with $1,000.
During the Bonus Round, host Ryan Seacrest asked Yanno where her husband was. “He’s actually seeing all of the rock ‘n roll bars,” she admitted. “He went to go see the Whisky Go Go in LA.”
“So, he’s not here?” the host asked. Yanno shook her head with a laugh. “I can’t believe he chose sightseeing over coming to Wheel of Fortune.”
“That’s what happens when you’ve known one another for 40 years,” Yanno chuckled.
“You can explain that to me later,” Seacrest replied.
Yanno chose “Place” for her category. She was given “R,S,T,LN, and E.” Yanno picked “H,M,D, and O” to round out her puzzle.
It then looked like “THE _ _ _R_ _ _.” In the ten seconds she had, the game show contestant could not give a single guess. The puzzle turned out to be “The Fairway.”
“And I play golf,” Yanno said, laughing. She would have gone home with an additional $55,000, which would have given her $76,099.
“How do they keep picking tough puzzles for bonus round losses?!” a YouTube user wrote.
“That was a tough one,” said another.
“That was a tough puzzle for Veronica. $55,000 loss ugh,” added a third.
“Tough one indeed,” wrote one last fan.
Wheel of Fortune, Weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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