Using everyday work skills, guidance counselor conquers ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and drives home a Mini Cooper
An elementary school counselor made some big bucks on the beloved game show 'Wheel of Fortune.' During an episode of 'Wheel of Fortune' Season 42, which aired in March 2025, Chelsea Hall, a guidance counselor from San Antonio, competed against Sophia Ogden from Castle Rock, Washington, and Demarland Dean from Ooltewah, Tennessee. Right from the start, Chelsea was on her A-game, and she stunned everyone with her puzzle-solving skills. Hall managed to crack every Toss Up puzzle, leaving the game show host, Ryan Seacrest, shocked. After Chelsea worked out the first puzzle, with only two letters on the board, Seacrest quipped, “How did you do that? That was amazing!”
Throughout the initial rounds of the game, Chelsea maintained the lead by solving a couple of puzzles. However, Chelsea landed on the Bankruptcy wedge twice, and she lost the lead to Ogden. Soon after, Chelsea made an impressive comeback by solving four puzzles consecutively and regained the lead with $21,750 in cash. In the end, Chelsea claimed the top position on the leaderboard with a staggering $42,500 in cash. Eventually, Chelsea advanced to the Bonus Round, where she had the chance to win a brand new car or an additional $100,000. Then, Hall was joined on the stage by her mother, Kathy, and her sisters, Camille and Gabrielle, for support.
At that moment, Chelsea revealed that her sister Camille had also been on the show before, and she won the Bonus Round nearly 10 years ago. According to Market Realist, Seacrest told Camille, "I remember you. I was watching. You won," to which the latter responded, "I did win. Chelsea is going to beat me, though." When Seacrest asked Chelsea to pick a category for her Bonus Round puzzle, she chose "What are you doing?" After 'Wheel of Fortune' gave Chelsea the standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, E,” she picked “B, K, C, and I" to round out the puzzle, which looked like “KICKIN_ B_CK _N_ REL__IN_.” Chelsea's selection of letters was bang on, as she got many clues on the board. As the letters popped on the board, Seacrest said, "Good choices."
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It seems like before the ten-second timer kicked off, Chelsea had the right answer in her head. Without wasting any time, Chelsea screamed, "Kicking Back and Relaxing," which turned out to be the correct answer. As Chelsea hopped with excitement, Seacrest flipped the Golden Envelope and revealed that she had won a brand new Mini Cooper worth $41,200 from her prize envelope, taking her total prize value to $62,950.
During an interview with Kens 5 after her appearance on 'Wheel of Fortune,' Chelsea stated how her career helped solve the puzzles. Then, Chelsea explained, "I am like, that is what we do all day. Like you are handed a paper, and you have got to be able to read it even with the missing letters. So, I am looking at the puzzles, and I am like, 'Please, I do this for a living. I know exactly what that says without any vowels.'"