Wheel of Fortune player Pat Ralph nearly lost out on taking home $60,000 after he almost didn’t solve the Bonus Round puzzle. The contestant only had to guess three letters, and a lot of viewers thought that answer was incredibly easy.
Ralph, from Westfield, New Jersey, played against Kelly Rushford, from Buffalo, New York, and Stefani Adams, from Chicago, Illinois, on Thursday, June 6. Ralph currently needs all the money he can get as he is planning a wedding. He also said that he is a foodie like host Ryan Seacrest and loves trying new restaurants.
“Well, we were looking in the mirror until that part,” Seacrest said of planning a wedding.
He also solved both of the toss-ups, putting him in the lead with $3,000. B0th Ralph and Adams, who had ‘being on Wheel of Fortune‘ on her bingo card, struggled to solve the first puzzle. Rushford, who watches the game show in Canada, 30 minutes before the American Broadcast, solved it with only two letters left to solve.
Adams, who also had travel on her bingo card, won a trip to Hawaii and the Wild Card when she solved the next puzzle — “Winning a Flying Car.” She took the lead with $14,344. However, Adams lost money and her Wild card when she landed on Bankrupt during the Prize Puzzle.
Ralph won the Prize Puzzle after solving “Hammock Between Two Palms Trees” and won a trip to Barbados. He took the lead with $20,500.
Rushford won $10,000 when she solved all three Triple Toss-Ups. Adams solved the final puzzle “A Narrow Escape,” but it wasn’t enough for her to take the lead.
She ended with $15,944. Rushford left with $11,000. Ralph was the night’s winner with $20,500. He chose “Phrase” for the Bonus Round.
Ralph brought his fiance, Courtney, with him to the Bonus Round. After they exchanged “I loves yous,” Ryan Seacrest said that he also loved Ralph.
Wheel of Fortune gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E” to start off his puzzle. The contestant chose “C,D,P, and A.” His puzzle then looked like “P_C_ A CARD AN_ CARD.”
As the clock counted down, Ralph stared at the puzzle. With only five seconds left, he said, “Pick a card and card.” Right before the timer ended, Ralph guessed “Pick a card any card,” which was correct. He added $40,000 to his total, giving him $60,500.
Ralph’s win was posted to YouTube and fans reacted to his delayed response. “Thank goodness he got that. He almost blew an easy puzzle. Phew,” one fan said.
“He scared me for a minute but I’m glad he got it!” said another.
“Holy moly, I was on the edge of my seat with this one and didn’t think he was going to get it in time, especially with the additional ten letters displayed. Wedding paid in full,” a third added.
“My goodness! I thought he would not solve that really easy one!” a YouTube user commented.
“Whoa! Just down to the wire, Pat. Amazing!” one last fan wrote.
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