It’s been a pivotal year for Wheel of Fortune. Here in Season 42, the game show has a new host and a new set, both of which took some getting used to. But some things never change: Vanna White is still flipping letters on the answer board, contestants are still winning big prizes, and major mistakes are still costing players lots of money.
Here are 10 highs and lows from Wheel of Fortune in the 2024 calendar year, covering the back half of Pat Sajak’s final season and the front half of Ryan Seacrest’s first.
Fortunate: LaToya has a very happy New Year
A contestant named LaToya became 2024’s first $100,000 winner during Wheel of Fortune’s New Year’s show on January 2, solving the Bonus Round puzzle within the first second of the allotted 10-second time.
Unfortunate: Lori ignores her own advice
Just days later, Lori missed out on her Bonus Round prize after failing to realize _A_K_NG _ SNA_K was PACKING A SNACK. “It’s what I told my nephews to do when they came to the show,” she bemoaned as she missed out on a high-ticket prize.
Fortunate: Lavonda makes a wise choice
After a BMW prize came up for the fifth consecutive time in a row — piquing fan’s suspicions — it was contestant Lavonda who drove the new car off the set. She knew that _AKE A W_SE _H___E was MAKE A WISE CHOICE, and the X1 was hers.
Unfortunate: Wheel of Fortune forgets to rhyme
Enraged Wheel of Fortune fans used choice words on social media after the solution to a Rhyme Time puzzle turned out to be ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY. “Pardon my French, but how the f*** does that rhyme?,” one person wrote. Another said, “‘Absolutely Positively’ doesn’t belong in the Rhyme Time category, a**holes.”
Hey @WheelofFortune
Care to explain how these two words rhymeBecause they absolutely positively DON’T pic.twitter.com/1sEj3kw7Rn
— Zacaroni (@Zacaroni531) January 20, 2024
Fortunate: David gets another chance
This March, a contestant got David got a do-over on Wheel of Fortune after reportedly getting the wrong prize package and thus the wrong winnings total in his June 2023 appearance. Even though David came in last place during his second appearance, he still gets major bragging rights.
Unfortunate: Brooke misses out on $100k
Try solving this activity-related Bonus Round puzzle: __ST_NG A __DE_. Didn’t come up with POSTING A VIDEO? Neither did we, and neither did contestant Brooke, who would have won $100,000 if she had. On the plus side, Brooke took the loss in stride.
Fortunate: Tracy finally gets on the show
A contestant named Tracy told Sajak in an episode this May that she’d been trying to get onto the show for 28 years — that’s the better part of his hosting tenure! And her perseverance paid off: She won a Ford Edge SEL worth $41,420 for an overall winnings total of $54,678.
Unfortunate: Viewers muse about a Ryan Seacrest “curse”
Ryan Seacrest’s first episodes at the podium coincided with a streak of bankrupt spins, leading viewers and even the host himself to wonder whether there was a Ryan Seacrest curse at work. “Should we have a conversation with this wheel?” Seacrest joked in one episode. “What are you doing to us?”
Why is the wheel mad at everyone?
byu/randomguy1972 inWheelOfFortune
Fortunate: Jackie becomes Seacrest’s first $100k winner
A contestant named Jackie braved the thrills and chills of Wheel of Fortune’s Halloween-themed episode on October 23 and became the first player to win $100,000 (plus a shower of confetti and a hug from Vanna White) in the Seacrest era.
Toss-Up: Seacrest break-dances on the show
When contestant Kamilah showed ff her rapping skills during Wheel’s December 10 episode, Seacrest showed off his breakdancing skills, doing a backspin on the game show’s stage. Some viewers loved the impromptu dance break — “Ryan gives a fun vibe,” one Instagram commenter said — and some certainly did not — “Pat would never have been caught dead doing that.”
