‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant loses $100K bonus — but Vanna White had the sweetest way to make it up to her
Contestant Beryl New appeared on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ for the first time, but her encounter with host Vanna White wasn’t the first. Way before appearing on the show, Beryl bumped into White at an airport. When Pat Sajak asked her to detail what happened, Beryl revealed that she crossed paths with White at the Myrtle Beach Airport in 2015. “She was so kind. She let me take a picture with her,” the contestant added. “She was carrying a pound cake that her friend had made for her, taking it back home. She wouldn’t share the pound cake, but she did share a picture,” Beryl added.
Sajak listened to Beryl’s story and seconded White's incredibly kind nature. “She’s always great and she’s unfailingly polite to people,” he added with a smirk. As for the contestant, she was the champion of the episode, beating all her fellow players to reach the coveted Bonus Round. In the phrase category, she was given a four-word puzzle that was long and seemed tough to solve. The correct answer to the tricky puzzle was “Build a firm foundation,” which Beryl couldn’t guess and lost the $100,000 additional cash prize. However, she left home with something even better: a pound cake.
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Sajak refreshed how Beryl met White at an airport, and the latter was kind enough to click a picture but not share her pound cake. “Vanna, you need to make up for this,” he announced. Then White walked on the stage holding a pound cake as to gift to Beryl. “She brought you some pound cake. Here we go,” Sajak added. “There you go. I’m sorry I didn’t give you any of my pound cake,” White said, giving the contestant a side hug. To add one last punch to the gesture, Sajak took the plate off of White’s hands and started indulging on the cake. “Thank you. I appreciate it,” he said as he took the cake.
White has been part of the beloved game show since the first-ever episode, and so was Sajak. However, the latter decided it was time to step back and ease into his retirement plans. On the contrary, White renewed her contract and decided to continue at her job that is dear to her heart. Ryan Seacrest, who joined the show’s 42nd season as Sajak’s replacement, reacted to White’s decision to continue being part of the show. “This is such great news,” he said during his interview with Today. “Vanna has been such a staple on that show and in our living rooms for so many years,” he added.
Seacrest further expressed his excitement over working with the veteran host on the epic game show. “I’ve been very excited to work with her, but now that it’s official, I can say, ‘Congratulations, Vanna.’ I can’t wait,” he added. She landed her dream job in 1982, while she was still reeling from a personal tragedy: her fiancé John Gibson’s untimely death. Speaking to PEOPLE, she revealed that the show helped her cope with the situation. “I heard from so many people who had shared the same experience of losing someone instantly in an accident, and that really helped me,” she added.
