13-year-old ‘Wheel of Fortune’ fan wins big — and reveals unexpected detail about the show: ‘The stage...’
A 13-year-old ‘Wheel of Fortune’ superfan who appeared on the show in 2023 shared his experience and the toughest part of being a contestant. Kaden Nye, a teenager from Delaware, became the winner of the February 22, 2023, episode. However, he did not just bring back a huge amount but also great memories. In his interview with Delaware Online, Nye called it “a very unique experience” to be a part of the reality game show. “They made us feel included in the whole project and everything. It was just amazing.” Recalling what it was like to be on the set, the young fan stated, “The stage was very, very small, but I think the wheel was very, very heavy, to say the least.”
Nye won a total of $19,334 in cash and a trip to Wyoming during a Teen Week episode of ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ The contestant from Smyrna competed against Rayce Snyder of San Francisco and Justin Mattes of Venetia. Nye said he initially planned to use his winnings to buy a new house for his grandmother. However, since the prize wasn’t enough, he instead bought a new security system and paid for home renovations. Being a fan of the long-running game show, which he enjoys with his family every night, Nye went on to add that meeting Pat Sajak was “like meeting my idol. I got to meet the guy I watch literally every night on TV.” According to Delaware Online, he even met Jim Thornton, the announcer of ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ Talking about how he made friends on the game show, Nye also mentioned, “We still have a little group chat for each other; I talk to all of them.” For him, the toughest part of being on the game show was getting up early at 5 AM.
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Another group that played in the Teen Week of ‘Wheel of Fortune’ was Miles Reynolds of Port Orange, Khushi Talluru of Colorado Springs, and Juliana Palumbo of Bardstown. The contestant had competed on the February 20, 2023 episode that had a shaky start. As per Decider, tenth grader Talluru was just two letters away from solving the puzzle. The answer was “Fresh Tropical Fruit,” and she had to just guess “S” and “H.” While she chose to go ahead with “H,” with time running out on her, host Sajak asked her to either “solve it or spin it, but do something quickly.” Even though only the letter “S” was missing from “Fresh,” Talluru chose to spin the wheel and incorrectly guessed the word “G.”
This episode was won by Palumbo, who earned a total of $17,887 in cash and a trip to Antigua. The second winner was Reynolds, who made a total of $6,650, and Talluru won only $1,900. Interestingly, 2023 was the same year when Sajak announced his retirement from the show. The ever-loved host last appeared on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ on June 7, 2024. Ryan Seacrest has since taken over hosting duties.