It wasn’t a Christmas Day miracle for one Wheel of Fortune contestant on the December 25 episode, after a brutal loss in the Bonus Round left them missing out on the $100,000 prize.
The contestant in question was Nathaniel Bush, a poet and certified yoga teacher from Greenville, South Carolina, who was up against Staci Chastain from Visalia, California, and Debra Gorham from Royal Palm Beach, Florida.
Things started a little shaky for Bush after he flubbed on the opening $1K Toss-Up puzzle, but he bounced back in the $2K Toss-Up before taking a sizable lead in the Express Round. After solving the Travel Tips puzzle, he won $3,350 and a trip to New Zealand worth $13,318.
All three contestants nailed a puzzle in the Triple Toss-Up, but Bush finished strong by answering the final Speed-Up puzzle, giving him an episode-winning total of $33,018 cash (plus the trip to New Zealand).
Heading into the Bonus Round, Bush selected the “What Are You Doing?” category along with the additional letters “H, G, M, and O.” This gave him a four-word puzzle that read: “_ _ L _ _ N G / O N / _ / _ O O T _ R _ _ G E.”
As the ten-second timer began, it looked like Bush had it figured out, quickly answering the first part of the puzzle as “Walking On A Foot…,” but that’s where he became unstuck. He couldn’t figure out those last six letters, instead incorrectly guessing, “Foottrail.”
After the timer ran out, host Ryan Seacrest said, “It breaks my heart,” while Vanna White revealed the correct answer as “Walking On A Footbridge.”
“What’s a footbridge?” a confused Bush asked.
“We’ll talk about that later,” Seacrest quipped.
Unfortunately for Bush, things only got worse from there, as Seacrest opened the prize envelope and revealed that he had lost out on the $100,000 bonus prize. It marked the second time this week that a contestant missed the $100K prize (and the third overall this season).
“I cannot believe he could not get that!,” wrote one YouTube commenter.
“He was so close!” said another.
“Ugh! Not another $100k loss! And it’s on Christmas Day!” another added.
Another wrote, “Oh come on that was too easy. And another 100k loss on Christmas? Are you kidding?”
Still, it wasn’t all bad. Bush still walked away with over $33,000 and a trip to New Zealand, which even includes a guided Lord of the Rings tour!
Did you solve this puzzle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Wheel of Fortune, Weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
