Ryan Seacrest freaks out as ‘Wheel of Fortune’ player unexpectedly jumps on him after major bonus round win
In a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ episode, it was not only the contestant who felt the enthusiasm after his win but also Ryan Seacrest and the shocked fans. During this year’s January 15 episode, Ricky Brown solved the Bonus Round puzzle and got so excited that he went on to give Seacrest a tight hug. Brown, who also happens to be a musician from Easton, Pennsylvania, as per TV Insider, quickly took a place in every viewer's heart. The musician not only celebrated his win cheerfully but also solved an almost impossible puzzle with lightning speed.
During the aforementioned episode, Brown was seen going up against Karen Morgan from Clinton, Maryland, and Lisa McDaniel from Norman, Oklahoma. The contestant in question had a brilliant game right from the beginning as he kept on nailing the puzzles, including the Round 1 guess that won him $2,950. Moving further, the contestant had a bit of trouble when he entered the Mystery Round. Brown has incorrectly answered “Tanzania and New Zealand,” when the correct answer was “Tasmania and New Zealand.” However, he soon got back on track, solving puzzles in Express Round. Answering this round got him a cruise.
With his utter puzzle-solving skills, Brown continued to win the Triple Toss Up round, correctly guessing two out of three puzzles, that included “Nudist Colony.” This move had even shocked the co-host, Vanna White. During the final speed-up puzzle round, Brown continued with his success, where he made a total of $24,000 for himself. Winning this round pushed Brown into the Bonus Round, where he went for the usual category, “Phrase.” the contestant then chose to go ahead with letters “B, F, M, and A.” Brown got a three-word puzzle that read: “AS / _ _ _ / _ _ S _.”
While almost everyone thought the puzzle was next to impossible to solve, Brown looked ready for the timer to start. Waiting with his answer right on the tip of his tongue, as soon as the ten-second timer hit him, Brown excitedly screamed, “As you wish.” “Yes! You got it! How did you do that?” Seacrest yelled in surprise as Brown jumped on the stage. The contestant then grabbed Seacrest and gave him a hilarious hug. After this, even Seacrest was seen having a wide smile on his face, although he was awkward. Later, the host–who took over the duties on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ after the departure of Pat Sajak– opened the envelope, revealing Brown won an extra $40,000, taking his total earnings to $64,000 and a cruise.
This was not the only time Seacrest was noticed to be awkward on the set of ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ During the March 6 episode, Marisol Gonzalez, a Blue Star Mom of a Marine veteran named Mark from Clovia, California, played great entering the Bonus Round. However, the luck not being in her favor that night, she lost the last round. When Seacrest told her the correct answer, he also mentioned, “I don’t know how you were going to get there,” right after which the contestant stated, “It’s been great,” and gave the host a one-arm hug and a kiss on the cheek, according to TV Insider.