A Wheel of Fortune contestant lost out on a lot of money in the Bonus Round on a tough puzzle, but he had a phenomenal game and still walked away with a big chunk of change.
Joe Ferroni, from Sarasota, Florida, played against Marianna Reid, from Omaha, Nebraska, and Sharona Nafisi, from Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, September 12. Ferroni is a musician who can play the harmonica and guitar at the same time.
Reid, a woman whose husband passed away four years ago, played in honor of him, solved the first Toss Up. Ferroni pulled ahead after solving the second one.
He gained a big lead after landing on $2,500 in the first puzzle and getting two “Ps” out of it. He also landed on the “Year of Fun” wedge, which gave him an additional $5,000 if he solved the puzzle, as well as a trip to Hawaii. When his opponents had bad luck, the turn moved back to him, and he solved “The Ultimate Party Planner.” All of that together totaled $27,830, giving him a huge lead.
Nafisi, a monster truck lover, was close to solving the next puzzle, but guessed a “Q,” causing the turn to move to Reid, who solved “Guilt Trip of a Lifetime” with only two letters left. She put $2,000 in her bank.
On the next puzzle, Reid landed on the Express Wedge, which would give her $1,000 per letter. But, if she guessed wrong, she would be Bankrupt. Redi guessed an “F,” which wasn’t in the puzzle, and she dropped down to $0. Ferroni wound up solving the puzzle — “Drink In My Hand, Toes In the Sand” — and won a trip to Turks and Caicos, giving him $45,268.
Ferroni added to his total when he solved all three Triple Toss Ups and put $10,000 in his bank. He also added $7,750 to his total after solving the final puzzle — “Peanut Butter Milkshake.” This gave him a final total of $63,018. Nafisi didn’t have anything, so Wheel of Fortune gave her $1,000. Redi went home with $2,000.
In the Bonus Round, Ferroni chose “Phrase.” He brought his daughter and wife with him to cheer him on.
After being given “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” the game show contestant chose “C,M,G, and I.” Only one letter popped up on the screen, and he said, “That’s it?” His puzzle looked like “_ER_ _ _S_I_N_ _LE.”
“That’s all you got,” host Ryan Seacrest said.
As the timer counted down, Ferroni tried to guess what it was. “Very Personable,” “Very Distinguishable,” “Very Disturbing,” “Noble,” “Very Very Personable,” “Very Refreshing,” he said.
He was not right on any of them because the puzzle turned out to be “Very Fashionable.” He lost out on an additional $45,000, which would have given him $108,018.
“You know what? I’ll take it,” Ferroni said.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock