Over the years, fans have seen Ryan Seacrest in the middle of all sorts of surprising moments since he’s joined Wheel of Fortune. Recently, he became part of one contestant’s big reaction to an impressive win. Since then, the contestant has also spoken about their time on the show.
Ryan Seacrest Found Himself In The Air Before Heading Onto The Bonus Round
Seacrest, previously known for his work with American Idol, joined Wheel of Fortune in 2024. At the time, he took over from the previous, long-running host, Pat Sajak.
Since this time, Seacrest has been part of a lot of memorable, and memetic, moments from the show, including a few that took place behind-the-scenes. Recently, he got a surprising reaction from one winning contestant.
During a recent episode, North Carolina native Jason Nieradka played against Stephanie Hoetzer and Derrick Kimbrough. Early on, all three of the contestants proved strong, with Seacrest commenting, “Suddenly, it’s anybody’s game,” as they reached the final puzzle.
Things turned in Nieradka’s favor after he solved “A Little Bird Told Me.” Guessing “T” and “L,” with the puzzle having three of each, earned him $18,000 and $36,000, respectively.
Seacrest then proclaimed, “He’s going to the Bonus Round!” Walking him over, the contestant hugged him and picked him up off the ground. This caused the out-of-breath host to wrap his legs around him and say, “Congratulations!”
Jason Nieradka Also Recently Shared What He Plans To Do With His Wheel Of Fortune Winnings
When Hoetzer and Nieradka went on to high-five each other, Seacrest then ducked under them. In a squeaky voice, he shared, “Jason’s going to the Bonus Round.”
In time, Nieradka solved the final puzzle, which read, “In the Aftermath.” He ultimately took $78,000 home with him. The contestant shared that the win was “life-changing.” This caused the host to share, “That’s why we do this every night.”
Nieradka ended up with a two-day streak on the show, which saw him win a Corvette in addition to the cash prize. Speaking with WFMY News 2, he shared that he will use his winnings to take some time off from his job behind the bar, sharing, “I will be taking a vacation at some point, going to enjoy some of the winnings. But I enjoy what I do for work, so it wasn’t a pain for me to come back and get behind the bar again at all.”
Nieradka also shared that a lot of people have reached out to him since his time on the show. He noted, “There’s people I haven’t talked to in 10-plus years that are reaching out to me. There’s people who I’ve never met in my life sending me messages, paragraphs talking about how great it was to watch and see. They were rooting for me and rooting for me to get the car. It was really cool to know that good things happen to good people, and I’m very, very fortunate.”
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John Witiw has been a writer since at least 2015. He’s covered a variety of topics, especially when it comes to film and television.