A school principal might’ve just broken the Bonus Round curse — and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans are grateful
Fans of ‘Wheel of Fortune’ have speculated that Bonus Rounds are being made harder on purpose. This season saw a 19 straight losing streak of contestants who couldn’t win the Bonus Rounds. However, a school principal from Louisiana, Rachel Granier, broke this 19-episode curse. On the May 23, 2025 episode, Granier of Lafayette, LA competed against Neal James from Illinois and Nilou Rastegar from San Diego. In the early rounds, Rastegar won the toss-ups, while Granier went bankrupt.
Further, during the game, the principal racked up $22,200 in cash winnings and made it to the Bonus Round. Choosing the “Phrase” category, she received the standard letters, “_ _ _ R / _ _ _ R N E _ _ _ _ _ T S.” Granier chose the letters C, M, P, and O, revealing the puzzle as “_ O _ R / _ O _ R N E _ _ _ _ _ T S.” With only four seconds to spare, she recognized the phrase “Your journey” and confidently guessed, “YOUR JOURNEY AWAITS.” With that guess, she not only won $40,000 but also won over viewers who were bracing for another loss. According to Collider, the principal, who called herself “a Cajun girl, through and through,” didn’t just want the cash. She also aimed to break the show’s 19-episode curse.
@WheelofFortune On 2/12/25 Stephen had a wildcard, $4,750, Holland America trip, landed on $10,000 wedge. Pat would have immediately reminded him of what he would lose... Ryan didn't. Never does.
— 🇺🇸 JANICE 🇺🇸 (@jdkitkat129) February 13, 2025
Contestants are nervous and don't recall. It wasn't $10, 000. He lost everything.
Before her win, many long-time viewers of ‘Wheel of Fortune’ thought the creators of the show were intentionally making the game tough, while some even believed the game show had run out of money. A viewer even took to Reddit asking, “What is up with these hard bonus round answers?” Replying to the post, a user commented, “Do they not want contestants to win? I mean, I understand not wanting EVERY contestant to win, but you'd think you'd want 65-75% or something.” Meanwhile, a few others also believed, “The caliber of contestants has really gone down. Like they’re more interested in quirky instead of actual brains.”
@WheelofFortune why didn’t Ryan advice Steven that he had the cruise, wild card, & over $4000 cards before he took a chance on the bankruptcy/$10,000 choice.
— Jamaica_yeah_man (@yeah_jamaica) February 13, 2025
But it wasn’t just the game itself under scrutiny. Fans also pointed out a habit of Ryan Seacrest, who stepped into Pat Sajak’s shoes this season. As per TV Insider,many fans feel that while Seacrest is friendly, he rarely warns players before they risk losing a prize or going bankrupt. “On 2/12/25 Stephen had a wildcard, $4,750, and a Holland America trip, and landed on a $10,000 wedge. Pat would have immediately reminded him of what he would lose... Ryan didn't. Never does. Contestants are nervous and don't recall. It wasn't $10,000. He lost everything,” a viewer posted on X. Another similar post on X read, “why didn’t Ryan advise Steven that he had the cruise, wild card, & over $4000 cards before he took a chance on the bankruptcy/$10,000 choice?” Seacrest first appeared on the reality game show on September 9, 2024, in season 42.