Quick-thinking ‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant solves tricky puzzle in 2 seconds and earns $100K in epic moment
A 'Wheel of Fortune' contestant made history by becoming the first grand prize winner in the Ryan Seacrest era. During the Halloween-themed episode of 'Wheel of Fortune,' which aired on October 23, 2024, Jackie Fakhoury from Visalia, California, who loves to celebrate the spooky festival by keeping her 12-foot skeleton up all year, competed against Alexandria Harris from San Diego, California, and John Malloy from Solon, Ohio. Fakhoury kicked off the game with a bang by solving the first puzzle. However, things took a turn when Fakhoury landed on the Bankrupt Wedge and was nearly back to square one.
Fakhoury made her strong comeback in the Express Round, where she won a Road Scholar tour of Romania worth $10,000. In the end, Fakhoury secured the top position on the leaderboard with $14,800. On the other hand, Malloy left with $11,950, and Harris went home with $11,550. Eventually, Fakhoury advanced to the Bonus Round. Then, Fakhoury's husband, Joey, and her son, Adrian, came on the stage to support her.
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Soon after, Fakhoury spun the wheel and picked a Golden Envelope. When Seacrest asked her to pick her category for her final puzzle, she chose "Phrase." After 'Wheel of Fortune' gave Fakhoury the standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, and E," she selected "D, H, C, and O" as her additional letters to round out the puzzle. At last, Fakhoury's Bonus Round puzzle looked like “H _ D D L E _ R O _ N D.” Before the ten-second timer began, Fakhoury already had the answer to the two-word puzzle in her head. In just two seconds, Fakhoury shouted, "Huddle Around," which turned out to be the correct answer.
According to TV Insider, Seacrest told Fakhoury, “Congratulations, Jackie. Are you ready to see this?” as he flipped the Golden Envelope and disclosed that she had won an additional $100,000. As the gold confetti fell all over the stage, Fakhoury became the season's first grand prize winner since Seacrest took over the hosting duties of veteran host Pat Sajak. Then, Fakhoury's husband and young son also rushed towards the stage to celebrate her big win as Seacrest watched the family of three with a smile on his face. Around the same time, Seacrest also invited his co-host, Vanna White, to the stage to enjoy the milestone moment.
Once the episode dropped, many fans expressed their happiness over Fakhoury's huge win on 'Wheel of Fortune.' One social media user stopped by the comments and wrote, "Way to go, Jackie!! Congratulations! You certainly made us proud by being the first-ever $100,000 winner this season with Ryan Seacrest as the new host now, and I'm sure Pat Sajak would be proud of this too if he were watching this." Followed by a second user who penned, "YES! First 100K win of the season and for the new host! That's amazing to see." Another netizen went on to say, "Wow! I really enjoyed this episode. I literally screamed at my TV and jumped around when Jackie won the $100K!" A fan commented, "First Confetti score this season and first in the Ryan Seacrest era!!!"