‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Wins $99,000 After Ryan Seacrest Is Baffled by Puzzle
A Wheel of Fortune contestant was so close to $100,000, even host Ryan Seacrest was shocked. The lifelong learner solved the Bonus Round puzzle in just one second after guessing correctly an onion puzzle that left Ryan Seacrest baffled.
Vonda Ulfig, from Pataskala, Ohio, played against Arianne Kelly, from Oak Lawn, Illinois, and Drew Berman, from Ridgefield, Connecticut, on January 30. Ulfig is a lifelong learner who got her doctorate degree in business administration in 2019. She was also hospitalized in 2017 with Acute Intermittent Porphyria, a rare genetic blood disease.
Kelly, a local community theater performer who loves music, solved the first toss-up. Berman, who rode his bike around the world for an entire year in 2000, solved the second one.
Berman took the lead when he solved the “Never Have I Ever” puzzle — “Taken a Bad Selfie in the Bathroom” — for $11,250.
Ulfig finally got on the board when she solved the “Before & After” puzzle — “Look on the Bright Side of Onion Rings” — giving her $11,600. She landed on the Snowglobe wedge, which gave her $4,500.
“That makes no sense, but that’s correct,” Seacrest said.
Berman solved most of the next puzzle, but landed on Bankrupt, so the turn moved to Ulfig. She solved “Standing on the Riverbank” for a cruise to the Danube River. This gave a total of $19,970.
Berman solved the first triple toss-up for $2,000. Kelly then solved the last two, putting $4,000 in her bank.
With only one letter left to solve, Ulfig solved the final puzzle — “Texting In All Caps” — for $4,950. This gave her a final total of $24,740. She advanced to the Bonus Round and chose “Food & Drink.”
Kelly left with $5,000. Berman went home with $13,250.
Ulfig brought her husband, Mark, and two children with them to cheer her on. After being given “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” the game show contestant chose “H,C,M, and O” to round out her puzzle.
It then looked like “S_ _N_CH _ _ _CHE.” The clock barely counted down, and Ulfig guessed “Spinach Quiche.”
“No hesitation there. That is correct. I think you knew it before it started counting down,” Ryan Seacrest said. He opened the envelope to reveal $75,00 inside. This gave her a total of $99,740.
“Right on!” Seacrest said as he gave Mark a fist bump. “You got that fast!”
“Almost close to 100k. Way to go, Vonda,” a YouTube user said.
“Congratulations to Vondafor winning close to 100k tonight. Two winners to close out this week, which was good,” another wrote.
“Nice job!” added a third.
Could you solve the puzzle? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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