‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Loses $57,000 Prize After Defending Vanna White

A Vanna White superfan walked away from Wheel of Fortune with the perfect honeymoon trip.

During the game show’s Thursday, October 8, episode, host Ryan Seacrest noted that contestant Allie DeRocco from Haddonfield, New Jersey, was “representing women in STEM” on the series. “That’s right. I’m a mechanical engineer,” she clarified before revealing, “My dream is to open up a STEM lab in the next year or so, but, um, I might be a little busy because I just got engaged!”

After congratulating her, Seacrest pointed out that DeRocco has “always been Team Vanna” when it comes to watching Wheel of Fortune. “So, when I was growing up, my brother and I had our first computer game. It was Wheel of Fortune. There was an option to turn off the Vanna [White] feature to help you speed up the game and solve the puzzles,” DeRocco explained. “And my brother, Matt, always opted to turn her off, but I always kept her on because what is the Wheel of Fortune without Vanna?”

Seacrest addressed DeRocco’s brother by looking into the camera and saying, “How dare you, Matt?” He went on to encourage White to “give Matt what he wants” and walk across the board. The longtime star did exactly that, stating, “Matt, this is for you.”

DeRocco and her fellow contestants — Kendall Galloway from Chicago, Illinois, and Arnesti Maio from San Francisco, California — cheered White on before continuing the game. Maio won the First Toss-Up, while Galloway won the Second Toss-Up.

DeRocco went bankrupt during the First Round, ending the round with $0 in her bank. She made a comeback during the Mystery Round, scoring $4,900 by solving the round’s puzzle, “Call Your Agent of Chaos.”

She won again in the Prize Puzzle Round, earning cash and a trip to Costa Rica worth $8,028. “I mean, you said you just got engaged. There’s a tub for two in all of that,” Seacrest said. DeRocco agreed, calling the trip the “perfect honeymoon.”

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DeRocco solved two out of three puzzles during the Triple Toss-Up Round, bringing her total winnings to $17,678. Maio solved the episode’s final puzzle, but DeRocco made it to the Bonus Round.

Before solving her “What Are You Wearing?” puzzle, Seacrest gave a special shout-out to DeRocco’s fiancé, Matt, and mom, Michelle, in attendance. “So, when’s the wedding?” he asked Matt, who replied, “Fall.” DeRocco noted, “We just decided ‘fall’ was the wedding.”

Seacrest quipped, “You hear that, Mom? A fall coming soon.”

After spinning the wheel one final time, DeRocco struggled to solve the Bonus Round puzzle, whose answer was “Brown Suede Pumps.” Seacrest opened the envelope and learned she lost out on an extra $40,000. Luckily, she walked away from the game with a Costa Rica trip and total winnings of $17,678

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