‘Wheel of Fortune’: Ryan Seacrest Stunned by Player’s ‘Amazing’ $78,000 Solve

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Ryan Seacrest couldn’t hide his shock on Friday’s (January 17) episode of Wheel of Fortune after a contestant made one of the most impressive solves in the game show’s long history.

The contestant in question was Traci Demus-Gamble, who, according to her LinkedIn, is an English teacher from Dallas, Texas. She was up against T.R. Campbell, an aspiring game show announcer from Lutz, Florida, and Brittany McCauley, a triathlon participant from Fauquier County, Virginia.

Demus-Gamble absolutely smashed through the first half of the game, nailing the opening, Round 1, Mystery Round, and Express Round puzzles. This gave her a commanding lead with $28,650, plus two separate Caribbean cruises!

McCauley then had a late-game comeback, answering all three puzzles in the Triple Toss Up round and the final Speed Up puzzle. This gave her a total of $21,550, an impressive figure but still not enough to topple Demus-Gamble’s $28,650.

Heading into the Bonus Round, Demus-Gamble selected the often tricky “Phrase” category, along with the additional letters “M, C, D, and O.”

This left her with a four-word puzzle that read: “T _ E _ / _ O / _ _ _ / _ _ C _.”

Despite looking near impossible, Demus-Gamble confidently shouted out her answer as soon as the ten-second timer started. “They Go Way Back,” she exclaimed, delivering one of the most sensational solves ever.

Seacrest looked stunned and started searching Demus-Gable to see if she was wearing an earpiece. He then opened the prize envelope to reveal she’d added an extra $50,000 to her winnings, giving her a grand total of $78,650, plus the cruises.

“That was amazing,” the American Idol host said. “How in the world did you solve that last one?”

“I just dug deep,” Demus-Gamble replied.

“Yeah, you dug real deep,” Seacrest added. “Congratulations.”

Wheel of Fortune YouTube

Wheel social media correspondent Maggie Sajak interviewed Demus-Gamble after the show and admitted that she and the crew were trying to solve the puzzle backstage and didn’t come close to getting it.

“How did you do that?” Sajak asked.

“I just looked for the letters that weren’t there and plugged them in and just powered through,” Demus-Gamble answered.

Summing up her experience on the show, Demus-Gamble said, “I’ve grown up watching Wheel of Fortune. I love solving puzzles, obviously. Everything was just perfect.”

Viewers also jumped onto social media to praise Demus-Gamble’s amazing Bonus Round puzzle solve, with one YouTube commenter writing, “One of the most impressive bonus round solves I’ve seen for this season.”

“I couldn’t solve that one to save my life, but Traci got it like it was nothing. Congratulations! Enjoy the moolah!” said another.

“It wasn’t that she got barely any letters. It was that she knew it immediately and said it with confidence,” another added.

Another wrote, “AMAZING solve. I was stunned.”

“Oh my goodness, how in the world did she get that puzzle?” said one fan.

“Unbelievable solve!!! WOW!” added another.

What did you think of this incredible solve? Did you figure out the answer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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