Wheel of Fortune fans can’t get enough of an adorable grandmother who won a car on the game show. The contestant solved the Bonus Round puzzle very quickly, before host Ryan Seacrest could tell her to guess it.
Retiree Mary Ellen Judge, from Friday Harbor, Washington, played against Jen Love, from Midlothian, Texas, and Frank Lugo, from Orlando, Florida, on January 27. Judge is a cancer survivor and grandmother of five.
Love, a woman from a blended family, solved the first toss-up for $1,000. Lugo, a married man who is renovating his new home, solved the second for $2,000.
Lugo solved the first puzzle — “Wearing Too Much Cologne” — for $1,000. He also solved the “Before & After” puzzle — “Ariana & Nachos Grande” — for $9,450 after landing on the “Year of Fun” $4,500 wedge.
Judge finally got on the board when she solved the Prize Puzzle — “Excellent Ski Conditions” — and won a trip to the Canadian Rockies. This put her on the board and in the lead with $14,960.
Before Ryan Seacrest announced the trip, she asked, “Where am I going?”
“She knows how this show works,” the host said.
All three of the game show contestants solved one of the three Triple Toss-ups, adding $2,000 to their banks. Love solved the final puzzle — “A Shock to the System” — putting $6,000 more in her bank.
She ended with $9,000. Lugo had $11,450. Judge won with $16,960.
Judge could pick from “Phrase,” “Things,” and “Fun & Games.” She chose “Phrase” before Ryan Seacrest could read off the choices.
“Sorry. I forgot to let you go ahead of me,” the contestant said.
“That’s alright, I’m used to it,” he replied.
Judge brought her two oldest grandchildren with her, who said they knew she was going to make it to the Bonus Round. During the Bonus Round, Ryan Seacrest assisted her by taking her hand and helping her up and down steps.
“You chose ‘Phrase.’ We’ll give you the ‘R,S,T,L,N, and E'” the host said.
“They didn’t have ‘What Are You Doing?’ That’s what I wanted,” Judge said.
Seacrest threw his hands down and yelled out, “Where can we register a complaint, please?” which made the contestant laugh.
Judge chose “C,O,H, and D.” Her puzzle then looked like “D_ _ _ _ C_LT TO _ _NORE.”
Before Ryan Seacrest could tell her she had 10 seconds and before the timer started, Judge solved “Difficult to Ignore.”
Judge turned around to her grandchildren and cheered. Searest tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Let me show you something.”
“What?” Judge asked annoyed. Seacrest opened the envelope to reveal the Ford Mustang. This gave her a total of $59,545.
Seacrest took her arm and told her to watch her step as he and Judge walked over to her car. “Any more complaints? I could submit them for you, if you want,” he said.
Fans went nuts for the adorable grandmom. “She was adorable! I’m so glad she won big!!!” a Reddit user said.
“So adorable. I want her to be my grandma haha,” another commented.
“Tonight’s winner was absolutely adorable. Great story, great player, and Ryan did so great with interaction and assistance when she needed,” a third added.
“The best was when she was so excited to get the bonus puzzle right that she forgot there was more, so Ryan tapped her on the shoulder, and she said, ‘What?’ Like she was annoyed he interrupted her celebration lol,” a fan said.
“Mary Ellen was awesome,” another fan commented.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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Originally published on tvinsider.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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