That was fast! A $1 million win almost came to pass during Ryan Seacrest‘s second week as host of Wheel of Fortune, and get this: The last time this prize was won during a regular season was exactly 10 years ago tomorrow.
The last time a player won $1 million who wasn’t a celebrity was Sarah Manchester, whose victory aired on September 17, 2014. Playing for the grand prize in the September 16, 2024 episode was Vivian Tran, the red player. She ultimately didn’t walk away from the episode a millionaire, but the fact that she had the rare chance to win the show’s ultimate prize so early into Seacrest’s run feels like a great turn of luck for ratings.
A promo for the Monday, September 16 episode teased that the $1 million prize was added to the Bonus Round. “Oh my gosh, this could be it. There it is,” Seacrest said in the promo with an excited look on his face. In his hands was the $1 million envelope that replaces the $100,000 prize on the Bonus Round wheel if a player is eligible for the upgrade. The promo confirmed that a player would get the chance to play for it, but of course didn’t reveal if they walked away victorious.
Several things had to go right in order for Vivian to be eligible for the jackpot. Per the Wheel of Fortune rules, in order to win $1 million a contestant must spin the wheel and land on the “ONE MILLION” wedge, call a correct letter, and then solve that round’s puzzle without going Bankrupt. They must then win the game overall without ever going Bankrupt, sending them to the Bonus Round. That’s when the $100,000 envelope is replaced on the Bonus Wheel by the $1 million.
To win the grand prize, Vivian would have had to land on the $1 million envelope on the Bonus Wheel and solve the Bonus Round puzzle correctly. Unfortunately for Vivian, that didn’t come to pass. But it does mark the first time the show’s biggest jackpot was brought into play since Seacrest began as host on September 9.
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Vivian went into the Bonus Round with a total of $27,300, a trip to Europe, the WILD card (giving her an additional letter), and the ONE MILLION wedge. She had chosen What Are You Doing?. “My heart is racing,” Seacrest said, with Vivian playing for the $1 million. “There’s a lot of money on this wheel tonight. Is she going to be the big winner?”
RSTLNE gave her _ _ _ ER_N_ S_ _E _EL_. She chose CHMI and P for her bonus letter, giving her _ _ _ ERIN _ S_ME HELP. But she couldn’t get “OFFERING SOME HELP.”
Seacrest was sympathetic in his response as he showed her she’d landed on the $1 million envelope. “You were so close to that $1 million,” he told her. “You almost had it? You alright?” She confirmed she was. “Breathe,” he told her, pointing out how much she was still walking away with (including a trip). “You have been so fantastic. Thank you so much.” He then spoke to the camera noting, “I can’t believe it. When I picked it up and thought, oh my gosh, this could be it. There is it, so close.”
After, Vanna White and Seacrest continued to talk about how close it was; they knew once Vivian landed on the envelope on the wheel. “Adrenaline is rushing through my body right now,” Seacrest added. “She was on the brink of it with that wild card, extra consonant. It was so close. I thought it might happen.”
This grand prize was first introduced in October 2008 and has only been won three times. The first time was by Autumn Erhard in May 2013, and the second time was Manchester’s win in 2014. Manchester is still the last person to have won the jackpot in a regular season. The third victor is Sabrina the Teenage Witch alum Melissa Joan Hart, who won the jackpot on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune in an episode that aired on October 17, 2021.
Vivian is only the 13th player in Wheel of Fortune history to have a chance at the $1 million. Given that Sarah’s winning episode also aired on the 17th of a month, it seems that’s the lucky number! How much should we read into the fact that was the 13th player to play for the $1 million, the most unlucky number there is, and her loss came just one day before the last big win’s anniversary? This could certainly fuel for the superstitious, but then again the first time the grand prize was won was in the year 2013. So chalk this all up to coincidence!
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