‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant loses $40K and dream vacation — and the destination made it sting more
'Wheel of Fortune' contestant Eleni Kapetanakis spun the wheel during the Bonus Round and selected the 'Place' category, aiming for the mystery grand prize. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t solve the difficult puzzle and missed out on both a $40,000 cash prize and a lavish trip. The Austin native competed against Russ Paoletti from Park Ridge, Illinois, and Nikki Ashley from New York. Kapetanakis demonstrated her puzzle-solving skills early by correctly answering the first toss-up with "Choose Your Own Adventure." The puzzle added $1000 to Kapetanakis' bank after travel blogger Ashley incorrectly guessed "Form your adventure."
Ashley followed close on the heels by earning $2000 in the next toss-up by correctly answering "Fashion Photographer." However, the next puzzle threw Ashley off track after she was unable to fill in the blanks and earned a "Lose Your Turn": “C _ _ _ I _ _ / T H I N G S H _ _ _ / H _ _ _ _ N _.” Kapetanakis quickly solved “Crazier things have happened,” winning a $14,998 cash prize and a luxury trip to Costa Rica. In the next round, Ashley earned a Wild Card, and the third contestant, Paoletti, added $1,350 to his savings by rightly guessing "Pool and "Protein" after an unlucky streak of "Bankrupt" rounds. Kapetanakis then solved one of the first words in the Mystery Crossword round, earning $2,000.
The travel blogger was on a winning streak and bagged a grand trip worth $11,898 to Ireland and a $1,950 cash prize after correctly solving the Prize Puzzle/Express round. Additionally, she collected $2,000 during the Triple Toss Up Round after correctly answering one of them. Kapetanakis followed next and earned $4,000 after solving two puzzles. The certified sensory analyst scored big and advanced to the Bonus Round after rightly solving the final puzzle, "Showcasing My Skills." She earned $5,100 and her total jumped to $17,100. Ashley walked home with $14,148, and Paoletti had to satisfy himself with $1,350. Before the Bonus Round began, Kapetanakis introduced the "love of her life," Alexi, to host Ryan Seacrest.
"Nice to see you, Alexi. How's she doing?" Seacrest asked. "She's doing great!" Alexi quipped from backstage after throwing Eleni an adorable flying kiss. "Tonight is Colette's time to spin, solve, and see the world time. The envelopes not only include cash, but fabulous Colette and vacations as well. So if you solve, you get both of those things," the seasoned host explained. Kapetanakis chose “Place” for the category, and the puzzle board displayed the traditional letters “R, S, T, L, N, and E,” she then added, “P, C, M, and A.” The puzzle board then read: “_RAN_E _R_ _E.” Kapetanakis couldn't guess, and the buzzer went off with Seacrest announcing the right answer as "Orange Grove."
“I wish you had another letter at the beginning,” Seacrest reacted before revealing that the sensory analyst had lost $40,000 Bonus Round cash and a trip to the Plains of Africa. Fans completely disagreed with the bizarre puzzle. "I knew the first word was orange. But that was it. I hardly know any places with orange in their name other than The Blorange," an online user remarked. "An orange grove is more of a thing than a place," a fan pointed out. "She could have gotten a G, V, and O," a netizen chimed in.