A Wheel of Fortune contestant won $60,000 during her Bonus Round after breaking an incredible bankruptcy curse. The game show is currently in its summer reruns, and fans dubbed the June 11, 2025, episode as “insane” after it originally aired on September 18, 2024.
Melissa Brickey, from St. Louis, Missouri, played against Brent Lau, from Bakersfield, California, and Tanijah Johnson, from Malvern, Pennsylvania. Brickey, who is an above-knee amputee, runs a non-profit fundraiser for girls with disabilities.
She solved both of the toss-ups, giving her $2,000 and the lead. During the first puzzle, which was a Crossword, all three contestants landed on Bankrupt back-to-back-to-back.
“Shall we have a conversation with this wheel?” host Ryan Seacrest joked, leaning over and talking to the iconic prop. “What are you doing to us?!”
Lau, a local coffee and ice shop lover, then spun again but unbelievably landed on Lose A Turn. “We did something bad before we got here,” Seacrest quipped. Johnson momentarily broke the bad luck by landing on $800 and picking the letter H. But her good fortune didn’t last as she spun again and landed back on bankrupt, losing everything. Brickey then spun and also landed on bankrupt again.
#WHEELOFFORTUNE #OMG#BANKRUPT pic.twitter.com/6vYEbvXoPW
— Marc_Cumbie (@Marc_Cumbie) September 18, 2024
“So, I’m new here. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” the American Idol host said before telling Lau to “break this curse!”
Unfortunately, Lau did not break the curse, as he once again landed on Lose a Turn, leaving Ryan Seacrest exasperated. “Vanna? What is going on?” he said, turning to his co-host Vanna White, who simply laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “Please, help me!”
When Johnson spun again and once more landed on bankrupt, Seacrest couldn’t even speak. He leaned over and banged his head against the set. Finally, Brickey ended the curse, landing on $600 and solving the puzzle — “Eyelashes, Lips, Pupils, Cheeks.”
Reddit users reacted to the crazy moment. “That was insane!! What are the odds of that happening so many times in a row?” one fan said.
“That had to be the biggest run of bad luck on the wheel I’ve seen in a long time!” commented another.
“I can’t believe the bankrupt curse happened for the first time in a new era!” a third added.
Brickey solved the next puzzle —”Snapshots From Around The Globe” — giving her $5,200. She also solved the Prize Puzzle and won a cruise to Tahiti, giving her the lead with $16,650.
Johnson, a recent grad, won one Triple Toss-Up while Lau won the other two. Brickey won the game after solving the final puzzle with $20,050. Lau went home with $4,000. Johnson had $2,000.
For the Bonus Round, Brickey chose “Food & Drink.” After Wheel of Fortune gave her “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” she chose “P,D,C, and O.”
Her puzzle then looked like “PO_C_ED S_L_ON.” The timer barely counted down one second when she guessed “Poached Salmon.” Brickey won an additional $40,000, giving her a grand total of $60,050 in cash and prizes.
Wheel of Fortune, Season 43, Fall 2025, check local listings