The ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Solve Worth $78,000 Left Ryan Seacrest Absolutely Stunned

There’s no single reason why viewers are captivated by Wheel of Fortune, celebrating its golden anniversary this year. But if one were to point at the most likely, it would have to be “like a box of chocolates”: you never know what you’re going to get. Over those 50 years, Wheel of Fortune has seen its share of hilarious, but wrong, guesses, contestants who solve puzzles on the basis of one letter, and contestants that have taken home amazing prizes, including Laura Trammell, who took home a home. Recently, one contestant, Traci Demus-Gamble, took home $78,650 and two separate Caribbean cruises. But it wasn’t what she won, it was how she won, that left host Ryan Seacrest stunned.

Traci Demus-Gamble Nails the “Phrase” Category With Only 4 Letters

On the Friday, January 17th episode of Wheel of Fortune, Demus-Gamble, an English teacher from Dallas, Texas, was pitted against T.R. Campbell, an aspiring game show announcer from Lutz, Florida, and triathlon participant Brittany McCauley, out of Fauquier County, Virginia. The first half belonged to an unstoppable Demus-Gamble, who won Round 1, Mystery Round, and Express Round puzzles. By the time the show hit the 15-minute mark, Demus-Gamble had garnered $28,650, and not one, but two separate Caribbean cruises.

Demus-Gamble, however, had seemingly spent her magic as McCauley took over the back half, answering all three puzzles in the Triple Toss Up round and the final Speed Up puzzle. McCauley’s surge netted her a total of $21,550, just shy of Demus-Gamble’s haul, and it would be Demus-Gamble into the Bonus Round on the strength of her first-half heroics. She didn’t make things easy for herself, selecting the “Phrase” category, one known to be troublesome. Nevertheless, she got her free letters, R, S, T, L, N, and E, and took M, C, D, and O as her extra letters. Out of 10 letters, only 4 showed up in the clue, resulting in “T _ E _ / _ O / _ _ _ / _ _ C _.” Impossible, especially with only 10 seconds to solve it. Right? Wrong. The timer had barely started when Demus-Gamble exclaimed, “They Go Way Back,” and into Wheel of Fortune history as one of the most stunning solves ever.

Demus-Gamble’s Solve Stuns On — and Off — the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Set

Seacrest couldn’t believe it, and playfully circled around Demus-Gamble looking for an earpiece. He then opened the prize envelope, revealing an extra $50,000 to her winnings, bringing her total to $78,650, on top of the two Caribbean cruises. After the initial excitement had died down, Seacrest said, “That was amazing,” before asking the question that had to be on the mind of viewers across America: “How in the world did you solve that last one?” Demus-Gamble replied, “I just dug deep,” prompting Seacrest to add, “Yeah, you dug real deep. Congratulations.”

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The reactions before and after were priceless.

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Seacrest wasn’t the only member of the Wheel of Fortune family to be awestruck at Demus-Gamble’s feat. Social media correspondent Maggie Sajak (yes, that Sajak — Maggie is Pat Sajak‘s daughter) interviewed Demus-Gamble after the show, confessing that she and other crew members were trying to solve the puzzle themselves backstage, and were nowhere close with their own guesses. “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, and summed up her experience on the show by adding, “I’ve grown up watching Wheel of Fortune. I love solving puzzles, obviously. Everything was just perfect.”

Demus-Gamble’s Bonus Round puzzle solve had fans raving on social media with comments like: “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!”; “It wasn’t that she got barely any letters. It was that she knew it immediately and said it with confidence.” Demus-Gamble’s spectacular Bonus Round feat is sure to be remembered as one of the most amazing moments in the Ryan Seacrest era. Certainly better than this now-legendary “TREAT YOURSELF A ROUND OF SAUSAGE” guess.