A Wheel of Fortune contestant nearly lost out on a huge amount of money by saying too many words in the Bonus Round. This all came after she has landed on the million dollar wedge earlier in the game, but then agonizingly landed on a Bankrupt.
The player in question was Catrice Sandt, from Thomas, Connecticut, who eventually took home $100,000 on Thursday, February 27, but the buzzer almost ran out because of a simple mistake.
Sandt, a tap dancer who loves to gamble and play the WoF slot machines, competed against Nadia Exama, from Miami, Florida, and Roy Chinn, from Cypress, Texas.
The tap dancer started the game by solving the first tossup correctly and quickly, starting her off with $1,000. She was on a roll as she guessed the next puzzle and got most of the letters in the third one, picking up a Wild Card. However, it was Exama, a hospitality industry worker of 20+ years and server in fine-dining restaurants, who solved the puzzle. This put her at $2,900, only $100 lower than Sandt.
Chinn, an event producer and DJ, got on the board during the “Same Name” puzzle by guessing all but four letters. However, when he guessed “D” and it wasn’t in the puzzle, the turn moved to Sandt. She landed on the million dollar wedge and got to pick it up after guessing “M,” in which there was one of.
Sandt didn’t keep it for long, though, because on the next turn, she landed on Bankrupt, causing her to give up the wedge and the Wild Card. Exama solved it- “Strawberry & Paper Jam,” putting her in the lead.
The DJ almost racked up a hefty bank by solving most of the “Places” puzzle, but lost out when he guessed “C,” in which there was none. Sandt guessed the last handful of letters and solved “Breathtaking National Parks.” By guessing this puzzle, the game show contestant won a trip to Africa.
Despite Chinn guessing two toss-ups and the final puzzle, it wasn’t enough to bring him to the Bonus Round. He ended with $12,250. Exama was in last place with $5,900. Sandt was the big winner with $19,800 and an African safari.
Sandt chose “What are you doing?” for her Bonus Round. After Wheel gave her “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” she guessed “B,G,M, and A.”She picked the right letters because her puzzle looked like “BEG_NN_NG AGA_N.” As the letters appeared on the board, Sandt smiled and she was about to say something, but host Ryan Seacrest told her to “hold on.”
When the buzzer counted down, Sandt said, “I am beginning again.” The timer didn’t stop counting down. However, Seacrest told her that was right as she mumbled, “Beginning again.”
“And Catrice, I need to show you this,” Seacrest said as he opened the envelope, which revealed $100,000. Confetti fell in the studio as her husband, stepfather, and mother all ran over to hug her. Sandt went home with $119,800 and a trip to Africa.
“This is so exciting!” co-host Vanna White said.
“Everyone is in tears,” Seacrest pointed out.
Fans were torn on her win. Some thought she shouldn’t have won given that she said the extra two words, while others said that she still solved the puzzle.
“I think the puzzle still counts if you say words before the puzzle but still say the puzzle in its entirety. There was another episode this season where a contestant answered, ‘is it,’ then the puzzle, and it still counted,” a Reddit user said.
“Does it matter in the bonus round how she says the answer as long as the correct two words are spoken in the correct order? People babble stream of consciousness and sometimes stumble on the answer. It’s not like a regular round puzzle where you get one chance to say the answer,” asked a fan.
“Why did she even say that? It was like an anti-Jeopardy “what is” lol. I think Ryan was trying to help her and coax her into just saying the answer by itself. But as other commenters have pointed out, technically I guess you can say anything beforehand as long as you read the correct answer,” added a third.
“Catrice, you made me nervous adding those extra words- Congrats!” said a YouTube user.
On the Wheel of Fortune Instagram page, Sandt commented on her time at the show. “Thank you all so much!! What a WILD ride and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!! You all were amazing to be with and I’m so happy to have met you! Thank you for everything!!
Ryan, Vanna, and everyone at Wheel of Fortune, you’re the best!!!” she wrote.
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