‘Wheel of Fortune’ Player Loses Car After Ryan Seacrest Is Compared Unfavorably With Pat Sajak
Awkward! A Wheel of Fortune contestant shared that she had “no faith” in Ryan Seacrest taking over as host of the game show. Find out how he reacted. Plus, another contestant lost out on taking home a car.
Anita Quinn, from East Aurora, New York, solved the first toss-up. During the interviews, host Ryan Seacrest said, “I understand you didn’t have a lot of faith in me in the beginning of my start here at Wheel.”
Quinn, who has three granddaughters and is turning 83 soon, held up her hands and explained what she meant. “Yes. Vanna [White], I watched you in the 80s with Pat [Sajak], and I thought, when Pat said he was going to retire, I said, ‘there is no one that could ever replace him.'”
“I have to admit, when you came on, you did it. You are so amazing with the contestants. You made me actually want to be here,” she ended.
“Thank you,” Seacrest put his hand to his heart. “I wasn’t quite sure where this story was going to go. I felt the same way when Pat said he was going to retire.”
Quinn played against Kevin Gartman, from Montezuma, Iowa, and Essie Whitlow, from Inkster, Michigan, on March 3. Gartman, a man who has never tasted ketchup or mustard in his life, solved the second toss-up.
With only four letters left to guess, Gartman took the lead when he solved the “Same Letter” puzzle. He put $8,550 in his bank after solving “Cash, Coin, Currency, Cabbage.”
Whitlow, a lunch worker and PTO secretary at her daughter’s school, finally got on the board when she solved “What Goes Up Must Come Down” for $6,400.
Gartmen solved “Unparalleled Beauty” and won a trip to Panama. This gave him a total of $17,000. Whitman added $4,000 to her bank after solving two of the three Triple Toss-ups. Gartman solved the third one.
Gartman solved the final puzzle — “I’m Cool As a Cucumber” — for $6,000 more. This gave him a final total of $25,000.
Whitman ended with $10,400. Quinn went home with $1,000.
Gartman advanced to the Bonus Round and chose “Place.” He brought his wife, Kelly, with him. They share a son, Coy, together, who watches Wheel with him.
He was given “R,S,T,L,N, and E” and chose “P,C,D, and A” to round out the puzzle. It looked like “_A_ _R _ _ _.”
Gartman didn’t guess anything as his time counted down. “I don’t even know where you would start, “Ryan Seacrest said.
The puzzle was revealed to be “Major Hub.” He lost out on taking home the BMW.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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