A Wheel of Fortune contestant, who recently turned 80, celebrated in style as she won more than $92,000 on Friday’s (September 26) episode after instantly solving the Bonus Round puzzle.
The contestant in question was Meredith Holt from Hobe Sound, Florida, who told Ryan Seacrest that she and her five friends sing at weddings and birthday parties as the “Five Merediths,” all wearing blonde wigs to match Holt’s own hair.
In addition to singing, Holt also revealed she is a keen golfer, playing four days a week. She even managed to convince Vanna White to take part in an upcoming member-guest tournament.
Holt went up against Will Dennis, a Mumford & Sons superfan from Newton, Pennsylvania, and Tara Yarbrough, a married mother of three teenage boys, from Zephyrhills, Florida.
It was a strong start for Holt, who quickly solved the $2K Toss-Up puzzle. Her success continued in the Mystery Round and the Express Round, increasing her winnings to $15,849 cash and a trip to Ireland.
Dennis attempted a comeback in the Triple Toss-Up and Speed-Up rounds, but it wasn’t enough to topple Holt, who won the episode with $17,849. Dennis finished second with $10,100, while Yarbrough ended last with $1,950.
Heading into the Bonus Round, Holt selected the “What Are You Doing” category and introduced Seacrest to her husband, David, who was cheering her on from the sidelines.
Faced with a three-word puzzle, Holt picked the additional letters “G, P, C, and A” to go with the already given “R, S, T, L, N, and E.” This gave her a puzzle board that read: “E _ P T _ _ N G / _ _ / P _ C _ E T S.”
Holt wasted no time in answering. As soon as the ten-second timer started, she nailed it with “Emptying My Pockets.”
Seacrest then opened the prize envelope to reveal that Holt won an extra $75,000, giving her a grand total of $92,849, plus the trip to Ireland. She also broke a curse after the $75,000 wasn’t selected all last season.
Fans jumped onto social media to react to Holt’s big win, with one YouTube commenter writing, “This is incredible. Great job Meredith.”
“We finally got our first $75,000 winner in the Ryan Seacrest era!!!” said another.
“WOW… EXCELLENT SOLVE,” another added.
Another wrote, “She indeed will be emptying her pockets with plenty of money on that one. And at 80 too. Been a long time since I can remember a game show with somebody that age winning. But anyhow outstanding, and one of the better feel good stories we’ve seen on TV all year.”
“Way to go, Meredith! You did a great job on this one!” said one fan.
“You know, it really is amazing how the show manages to find contestants who have something in common with Vanna….golfing! And Meredith was definitely a really good example tonight,” another added.
“Congratulations to Meredith winning 75k and a big 92k to end the week,” one commenter stated.
Did you figure out this Bonus Puzzle? What did you think of Friday’s episode? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Wheel of Fortune, Weeknights, check local listings
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