‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant's painful mistake costs her $1M — and it’s heartbreaking to watch her reaction
'Wheel of Fortune' fans were blown away after a contestant's shocking mistake cost her a $1 million cash prize in the Bonus Round. During an episode of 'Wheel of Fortune' which saw the light of day on September 16, 2024, Vivian Tran advanced to the Bonus Round with $27,300, a trip to Europe, the One Million Wedge, and the Wild Card. Ryan Seacrest, who was in his second week of hosting the beloved game show, said, "My heart is racing. This is a first for me. You’re playing for $1 million." Soon after, Seacrest informed Tran that the show had substituted the usual $100,000 envelope with a $1 million envelope.
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To win the cash prize of a whopping $1 million, Tran had to land on the million-dollar envelope, which she did. When Seacrest asked Tran to pick a category for her Bonus Round puzzle, she chose "What Are You Doing?” After the 'Wheel of Fortune' gave Tran the standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, and E", she chose "C, H, M, I, and P" as her additional letters to round out the three-word puzzle. With everything on the board, the puzzle looked like “_ _ _ E R I N G S _ M E HELP.” As the ten-second timer began, Tran made several guesses, “Wondering some help? Answering some help? Finding some help? Looking around for some help? Boundary for help?” but she couldn't get the right answer.
Following that, the correct answer to the puzzle was revealed to be “Offering some help." Soon after, Seacrest flipped the Golden Envelope and showed Tran that she had landed on the $1 million envelope. According to TV Insider, Seacrest then told Tran, who appeared disappointed, “You were so close to that $1 million. You almost had it? You alright? Breathe. You have been so fantastic. Thank you so much."
Shortly afterward, Seacrest looked directly into the camera and quipped, "I can’t believe it. When I picked it up and thought, Oh my gosh, this could be it. There is it, so close. Adrenaline is rushing through my body right now. She was on the brink of it with that wild card, extra consonant. It was so close. I thought it might happen.” In a video, Tran shed light on her 'Wheel of Fortune' experience and told Maggie Sajak, "It turned out great, a little bit painful, but I'm grateful for the opportunity. I knew the last two words … but the first one … I couldn't get the syllables. It was 10 seconds, so by the time it got to the eighth second, I was like, 'Ugh,' and I missed it."
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Once the episode dropped, several fans of the show stopped by the comments section to express their shock over what happened during Tran's Bonus Round. One social media user wrote, "I literally gasped when Ryan revealed that she had the Million. 😮." Followed by a second user who penned, "I know how hard it is up there… enjoy what you did solve!! You made it on the show… that's an accomplishment right there!!!" Another netizen remarked, "Omg I wanted to cry for her!! We were yelling the answer too!!!"
