Before a Wheel of Fortune contestant won $57,000, host Ryan Seacrest got confused as the game show used a bizarre sound effect he had never heard before. Read on to find out what went down and how Vanna White got quizzed by the bewildered host.
The episode featured Alison Smith, from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who played against Tom McGilvray, from Bolton, Massachusetts, and Tequila Smith, from Perrysburg, Ohio, on January 5. Alison Smith is a wedding cake maker who is getting married this year. She also owns nine chickens that are all named after country music legends.
McGilvray, a retired state trooper, solved the first toss-up while Alison Smith solved the second. Tequila Smith took the lead when she solved “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” for $5,200.
McGilvray solved the Before and After Puzzle — “Go Big Or Go Home Away From Home” — but still didn’t take the lead with only $3,100. Alison Smith solved “Life Is Better on Island Time” and won a trip to the Caribbean, giving her the lead with $10,328.
McGilvray solved two of the three Triple Toss Ups while Tequila Smith solved the third one, putting them only $100 apart. However, Alison Smith still maintained the lead.
Alison kept her lead when she solved the final puzzle — “My Last First Date.” She ended with a total of $12,228. McGilvray went home with $7,100. Tequila Smith had $7,200.
During the Bonus Round, Smith brought her fiancé, Taylor, with her. Seacrest asked Taylor how he proposed. “I incorporated the chickens,” he said. “So, I took the ring, and put it in a ceramic egg, set it in a hatching box, and then she saw the egg, walked outside, and I was on my knee.”
“He’s been wanting to tell that story on TV for a long time. I can tell,” Seacrest said.
After Smith spun the wheel and landed on the “G,” a sound of a chicken clucking came over the loudspeakers. Seacrest and Smith stopped and turned towards the sound. “That would run me off from the proposal right there,” he said. “I would have been sprinting away. Scared me to death.”
“Who knew we had those things?” the host asked. He then wondered if it was Vanna White who was behind the sound, and she shook her head no.
Smith chose “Thing” for her Bonus Round category. After being given “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” she chose “C,H,D, and A.”
The puzzle then looked like “_AC_ _L_ _.” As the time counted down, she guessed “Backflip,” which was correct.
“What?” Ryan Seacrest asked. “Did you surprise yourself with that?”
“How did you get to that so quickly?” The host wondered.
“I was like ‘I have no other option.’ If it’s not Backflip, I have nothing else to say,” Smith said.
She added $45,000 to her total, giving her $57,228. The couple shared they have not planned their honeymoon, and Seacrest said they could fund it now.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock