The last thing a Wheel of Fortune contestant wants in the Bonus Round is to see Vanna White standing still after they’ve chosen their additional letters. But that’s what happened to one unlucky player on Tuesday’s (July 8) episode, and things only got worse from there.
In the Military Veterans Special, which originally aired on December 24, 2024, and was repeated on Tuesday, July 8, as part of the summer reruns, Ron Wheeler from Shreveport faced off against two other veterans on the legendary game show.
Wheeler, an Army and National Guard vet who founded the nonprofit Doing It for the Kids in 2017, was up against Sheneese Townsend, an Air Force veteran and “cool aunt” from Las Vegas, and Humberto Del Rio, a Marine Corps vet and Deadpool cosplayer from Menifee, California.
The game started off tough for all three contestants as they struggled to solve the early puzzles. However, Wheeler pulled away in the Express Round after solving the prize puzzle and winning a trip to the Papagayo Beach Resort in Curacao worth $8,225.
Townsend and Del Rio tried to mount a comeback in the Triple Toss Up and Speed Up rounds, but it was too little, too late. Wheeler maintained his lead, winning the episode with $16,525 cash. But he had a chance to walk away with even more money as he headed into the $100,000 Bonus Round.
After selecting the dreaded “Phrase” category, Wheeler picked the additional letters “D, G, C, and I.” Unfortunately, not a single one of those letters appeared in the puzzle. All White could do was shake her head as host Ryan Seacrest said, “Well, Vanna’s not going anywhere, which isn’t a great sign.”
“It’s gonna be tough, but maybe you’ll get this,” the American Idol host added as Wheeler stared at the four-word puzzle that read, “_ N / _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ E.”
With only two letters on the board, Wheeler struggled to come up with the right answer, guessing “On To The Next,” “On To The Life,” “In To The Zone,” and more. After the ten-second timer ran out, White revealed the correct answer as “On My Way Home.”
“It was really tough,” Seacrest admitted before opening the prize envelope to reveal what Wheeler lost out on. Adding insult to injury, Seacrest turned the prize envelope around to show Wheeler missed out on the extra $100,000.
“What a heartbreaking episode, but congratulations regardless ron, thank you for your service!” wrote one YouTube commenter.
“In Ron’s defense, when Vanna stays still, it’s never a good sign. It still hurts like hell, though. That was brutal. Sorry, Ron! I feel your pain!” said another.
“Definitely a 100k caliber difficulty of a puzzle. I wouldn’t have gotten that even if he only got the vowel right. That was VERY tricky,” another added.
Another wrote, “That 100k was a painful loss here. Thank you for your service ronnie.”
“That was tough – it definitely would’ve been a $100K solve if he pulled it off. Oh well, congrats Ron!” said one commenter.
“Gosh that was very difficult!” wrote another.
Still, it wasn’t all bad, as Wheeler still got to leave the show with over $16,000 and a trip Curacao.
Wheel of Fortune, Season 43, airing this fall, check local listings