{"id":2086195,"date":"2025-10-12T18:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T18:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2086195"},"modified":"2025-10-12T18:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T18:39:13","slug":"nyc-lunch-lady-nabs-65k-win-on-food-themed-wheel-of-fortune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/nyc-lunch-lady-nabs-65k-win-on-food-themed-wheel-of-fortune\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC lunch lady nabs $65K win on food-themed &#8216;Wheel of Fortune&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F10%2F113197986-1.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A Long Island lunch lady served up a big-money win on \u201cWheel of Fortune\u201d that left her lapping up some $65,000 in prizes, including a brand new Toyota truck, a week-long tropical vacation and a year\u2019s supply of sweet treats.<\/p>\n<p>Single mom Katie McCann emerged as the winner of Tuesday night\u2019s fittingly food-themed episode called \u201cLiving the Sweet Life\u201d \u2014 and she credits her career as St. James Elementary School cafeteria\u2019s lead service worker for giving her an edge. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt certainly gave me the upper hand,\u201d McCann told The Post while smiling ear to ear.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Katie McCann, a lunch lady at St. James Elementary School on Long Island, was the big winner on \u201cWheel of Fortune\u201d on Tuesday. <span class=\"credit\">James Messerschmidt<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>McCann won about $65,000 in cash and prizes \u2014 including a new pickup truck and a tropical vacation. <span class=\"credit\">Sony Pictures Television<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>McCann, 37, nailed an impressive six puzzles with answers like \u201cone smart cookie\u201d and \u201cpour some sugar on me\u201d to earn a cool $65,253 in prizes and cash.<\/p>\n<p>She won a 2025 Toyota Tacoma SR5, a week-long trip to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a year\u2019s supply of sweets from Dylan\u2019s Candy Bar, and \u2014 the cherry on top \u2014 $13,200 in cash.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cYou can see my face that I\u2019m just in shock every single time I win anything. Like Ryan Seacrest said, I don\u2019t have a poker face at all,\u201d added the champ, who \u201cblacked out\u201d and barely remembers any of the taping and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/01\/entertainment\/connecticut-wheel-of-fortune-player-christina-derevjanik-wins-historic-1-035m-in-front-of-her-boss\/\">shouting out her correct answers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One thing does stick out, though, something that McCann called the most challenging part of it all \u2014 physically spinning the wheel.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>McCann was able to correctly answer six puzzle\u2019s on the gameshow.  <span class=\"credit\">James Messerschmidt<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a little lady \u2014 they had to push me up really high behind the podium to reach over, and that wheel is heavy,\u201d said McCann, who moved to Hauppauge from Queens four years ago.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Full circle moment<\/h2>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>McCann has been a longtime lover of the primetime game show since her own elementary school days and even credits \u201cWheel of Fortune\u201d for \u201chelping me to become a better speller.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fate ran its course in 2023 when McCann, a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan, saw a commercial to try out for her favorite play-at-home pastime.<\/p>\n<p>Network executives loved her bubbly energy and quickly picked McCann for an episode, but she couldn\u2019t get out to Los Angeles at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had to turn it down, and then they said, \u2018We really wish you could make it\u2019 and put me in a pool for contestants they really wanted to bring on,\u201d said McCann.<\/p>\n<p>When the brass called back last spring, she cleared her calendar this time around.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was like, \u2018Absolutely, I\u2019ll be there.\u2019 I couldn\u2019t say no twice.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>McCann was previously asked on the show in 2023 but wasn\u2019t able to make it out to tape in LA. <span class=\"credit\">James Messerschmidt<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A sign congratulating McCann at St. James Elementary School. <span class=\"credit\">James Messerschmidt<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Keeping the spoils of victory tight-lipped for the months leading up to her episode\u2019s airing was another challenge for McCann, who loves her job \u2014 she has no plans for a career change now \u2014 and enjoys conversing with her little customers.<\/p>\n<p>After finally going public, the school exploded with support, and kids even made her congratulatory drawings hanging behind her workstation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ve been so adorable, even the ones on the shyer side have been coming up to me,\u201d said McCann.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>McCann told The Post she appreciates the outpouring of support from her students. <span class=\"credit\">James Messerschmidt<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe students are all so very happy, which makes me feel great.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Even her 3-year-old daughter, Brodie, keeps saying \u201cmommy, you\u2019re a movie star.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCann hasn\u2019t had the chance to travel abroad much and will greatly appreciate the upcoming \u201csunshine on my face\u201d \u2014 the winning phrase that earned her the trip. <\/p>\n<p>She is also <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/11\/09\/rangers-fan-wins-car-after-making-wild-center-ice-shot\/\">expecting the pickup truck to arrive<\/a> just as her Jeep Wrangler lease is up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all just been a dream come true,\u201d McCann said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Long Island lunch lady served up a big-money win on \u201cWheel of Fortune\u201d that left her lapping up some $65,000 in prizes, including a brand new Toyota truck, a week-long tropical vacation and a year\u2019s supply of sweet treats. Single mom Katie McCann emerged as the winner of Tuesday night\u2019s fittingly food-themed episode called [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2086196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[392851,392852,21741,306499,359393,25879,392853,380921,359398,39864],"class_list":["post-2086195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-cafeteria","tag-elementary-schools","tag-entertainment","tag-food-drink","tag-long-island","tag-metro","tag-public-schools","tag-schools","tag-suffolk-county","tag-wheel-of-fortune"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/NYC-lunch-lady-nabs-65K-win-on-food-themed-Wheel-of.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2086195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2086197,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086195\/revisions\/2086197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2086196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2086195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2086195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2086195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}