‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Loses $128,000 After Telling Ryan Seacrest How Show Rejected Her

‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fleece Blanket

$69.99

Buy Now

A dream come true ended with a loss. A Wheel of Fortune contestant lost $128,000 after telling host Ryan Seacrest that the show rejected her 30 years ago.

Felicia Harris-Russell, from Stockbridge, Georgia, solved the first toss-up on October 6. She was rejected by the show previously when she unsuccessfully auditioned for Wheel 32 years ago. She also told Seacrest how she wants to adopt older kids with her husband.

Harris-Russell played against Rory Luk, from Brooklyn, New York, and Linda Melody, from Schiller Park, Illinois. Luk, an avid traveler who has been to 49 countries, solved the second toss-up.

Harris-Russell jumped up and down when she solved the first puzzle — “Celebrity Pet Psychic.” She picked up the Malibu wedge, giving her a trip to the Florida city and $14,650.

During the Express round, Melody, a grandmother of six and great-grandmother of eight, solved most of the puzzle, giving her $3,700. However, she picked up the Express Wedge, which had “Bankrupt” on the other side, losing all of her money. Harris-Russell then solved the “Before & After” puzzle — “Follow the Yellow Brick Road Rage.” She had $15,650.

Harris-Russell threw her hands up and squealed as she solved “Mind Over Matter.” She won a trip to Panama, making her total $26,575.

Luk solved two of the three Triple Toss-ups. Harris-Russell solved the third. Luk added $7,500 to his total when he solved the final puzzle — “The Running Man.” This gave him a final total of $13,500.

Melody did not win any money, so the game show gave her $1,000. Harris-Russell won the game with $28, 575. She advanced to the Bonus Round, where she chose “People” for her category.

Wheel of Fortune gave Harris-Russell “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” She chose “C,M,D, and A.” This made the puzzle look like “_R_ _N   _ _DS.”

“You’re going to find this serendipitous,” Seacrest said. The puzzle was “Grown Kids.” “Didn’t you tell me you wanted to adopt older kids?”

“Yes! But that’s okay,” she said.

Related

'Wheel of Fortune' Contestant Who Played 'Amazing Game' Lost $80,000

There was $100,000 in the envelope. Harris-Russell screamed loudly and folded her hands into fists to get her disappointment out. “That’s okay,” she said.

“I got the puzzle, which I thought for sure meant she would get it. I was so dumbfounded when it turned out to be the $100K!!” a Reddit user said.

“This is somewhat a sad day…IDK which is sadder…Linda taking home only the $1K consolation or Felicia’s $100K loss in the bonus round. In fact, I happened to get the bonus round puzzle!” another commented.

“I did too. I was yelling at her, but sadly it didn’t help,” a fan replied.

Did you solve the Bonus Puzzle? Let us know in the comments.

Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock