Despite winning trip to St Lucia, ‘Wheel of Fortune’ player couldn’t help but wince over losing huge cash
‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans may have their criticism for the new host, Ryan Seacrest, but the contestants love him, and it shows. One such puzzle guesser was a dog lover, Marisol Gonzalez. After the game show welcomed Seacrest following Pat Sajak’s departure, the contestants sometimes hugged him, some even squeezing him, but Gonzalez proved to be the sweetest of them all. During the March 6 episode, Gonzalez — a Blue Star Mom of a Marine veteran named Mark from Clovia, California — competed against Jon Usborne, from Heartland, Michigan, and Najya Williams from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
During the first toss-up, she solved one of the two and also got the first main puzzle, earning $4,000 and taking the lead. She then landed on the $10,000 wedge in the following mystery round, after which Gonzalez picked the prize up in hopes of winning the round. Interestingly, the contestant guessed the puzzle correctly, “Mardi Gras Parade,” earning a total of $14,400 thanks to the wedge. Moving forward, Gonzalez also solved the Prize Puzzle in the category ‘What are you doing?’ The answer was “As Little As Possible,” which won her a trip to St. Lucia. Gonzalez, the dog-loving mom, also solved two out of the three remaining toss-ups.
Next was Williams, who guessed the last puzzle correctly, taking home $5,000. Meanwhile, due to unfortunate events, Usborne went Bankrupt several times and took home only $1,000. With this, Gonzalez became the winner of the episode. She had earned $34,404 in cash and prizes, moving further into the Bonus Round. During this puzzle, she went ahead with the “Living Things” category, which was when the Wheel gave her the usual letters, “R, S, T, L, N, and E.” She then selected the letters, “F, H, M, and O,” making her puzzle look like, “_ _ L_ _O_R.” With the timer ticking, Gonzalez ultimately couldn’t guess the answer, which was “Wild Boar.”
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It was host Seacrest who told her the correct answer after the timer went off. “I don’t know how you were going to get there,” he added, also revealing that Gonzalez had lost an additional $40,000. Replying to Seacrest, Gonzalez stated, “It’s been great,” and gave the host a one-arm hug and a kiss on the cheek. He appeared emotionless by the gesture and simply smiled later, looking at the audience.
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After Sajak retired from his long run on the show, Seacrest picked up the mantle of the legendary host on September 9, 2024. “Welcome to ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ I am your host, Ryan Seacrest. I still can’t believe my luck being here with you tonight to continue this legacy of this incredible show with all of you, and of course, my good friend Vanna White,” Seacrest addressed the viewers. The new and charming host also mentioned that hosting ‘Wheel of Fortune’ is his “dream job.” On his first-ever episode, Seacrest shared that he has been a fan of the game show since childhood. Season 43 of 'Wheel of Fortune' is set to premiere in September this year.
