DJ happily shrugs off $40K 'Wheel of Fortune' loss after his childhood dream came true anyway
Ryan Smetzer, a Franklin County, Pennsylvania, native, realized his childhood dream after he appeared on 'Wheel of Fortune' recently. The MIX95.1 morning show host revealed in his Instagram post that two of his wishes came true: "1. Be a contestant on America’s Game that I have cherished and watched over the years with family, and continue to watch every night with Jaq and Crush. 2. Meet my childhood hero that inspired me to get into hosting, radio, and broadcasting. Some kids looked up to MJ or Brady, my dude was @ryanseacrest," he captioned the lengthy post.
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Smetzer shared that friends encouraged him to participate, hoping he’d get a chance to meet his idol host. “I had a couple of friends that had reached out and said, ‘Hey, you know Wheel of Fortune is doing some auditions,’” he told FOX 43. “You might wanna throw your name in the ring and just see what happens.” “Ever since I was about seven years old, I always told my parents I wanted to be the next Ryan Seacrest,” he added. Later, the local DJ, who, coincidentally, shares the same first name as Seacrest, confessed that he had been cherishing the show since he was two years old. “So, I either wanted to be the next Alex Trebek, Pat Sajak, or Ryan Seacrest,” he told The Ben and Kelly Show. “But Seacrest was always the top one.”
“As soon as I got to the round of auditions where I got more serious and they were like, ‘hey, we’re gonna do some puzzle rounds,’ I was like, alright we’re gonna get the game out on PlayStation and start playing some of the games a little bit more started watching some more episodes,” he said. “It’s one of the quickest, most surreal 30 minutes of your life. You’re in there, you’re doing the show, you’re playing the game. It’s exactly what you see when you’re watching it on TV every single night.” Smetzer gushed about his time on the game show. “It was a fun experience."
Smetzer played neatly and scored $16,300 after clearing all the puzzle rounds. He also won a lavish trip to St. Croix, which he said he’d be taking soon with his long-time girlfriend Caitlin, who was cheering on from backstage. The DJ almost choked in front of Seacrest during the Bonus Round after getting to meet him in person. "Let’s see what we can do. I’d love to give away a lot of money now. Might be $100,000... Who knows?" the seasoned host encouraged before the big spin. Smetzer chose the “Thing” category for his final puzzle. After the puzzle board showcased the standard letters “R, S, T, L, N, and E,” he chose “B, H, W, and A.”
The puzzle board read: “_R_ _ _ _ WEATHER.” Smetzer guessed “Breezy Weather,” but it wasn’t the correct answer. “Drizzly Weather,” he guessed, but that too didn't fit the puzzle. Soon, the buzzer went off, and the answer was revealed to be “Frigid Weather.” However, Smetzer didn’t seem disappointed, having already fulfilled his lifelong dream, and it was nothing compared to losing the $40,000 bonus round cash prize. “It was so nice to meet you,” Seacrest addressed the DJ while shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you, too, man," Smetzer happily reacted before walking away with $16,300 and a luxurious paid vacation.