‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Talks 10-Year Quest to Get on Show

A man’s 10-year quest to get on Wheel of Fortune paid off. Ryan Bird won $77,000 and a trip to Ireland during his time on the game show and he admitted that he will be “processing” his win for months.

Bird, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, played against Sarah Crisman, from Los Angeles, California, and Diego Wyatt, from New York City, New York, on the Wednesday, March 12 episode. Bird is an nonprofit data analyst who loves spreadsheets and an amateur photographer. Crisman is a certified storm spotter for the National Weather Service and watches old movies every month with her husband. Watts is an extreme sports enthusiast who has insomnia.

The nonprofit data analyst didn’t start out too hot on the game show. He lost the first toss-up, giving Crisman $2,000 at the start. However, on the second puzzle – “Same Letter.” Bird solved “Tough Tongue Twister,” and receives $6,000, putting him in the lead.

Bird then solved the Mystery Round Puzzle – “Speakerphone Call in Public” – and gained a whopping $12,200 in his bank. He was on a roll solving the next puzzle and two of the triple toss-ups. He blew everyone away by solving the final puzzle for “What are you doing?” “Making each other laugh” was the puzzle, earning $4,550.

He easily won the game after solving each puzzle, with a total of $37,049 and a trip to Ireland. Crisman ended with $5,000. Watts had no money, but Wheel gave him $1,000 to leave with. Bird made it to the Bonus Round.

Bird brought his wife Sarah with him to cheer him on. He chose the category “What are you doing?” for the final puzzle. The game show gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” and he guessed “P,G,H, and O.” After that, his puzzle looked like “_H_NG_NG   O_T_ _ TS.” Before the timer even counted down, Bird guessed “Changing outfits.”

He was correct and host Ryan Seacrest let him know that he won an additional $40,000, bringing his total to $70,049. Bird hugged his wife and then got emotional. “This is a dream come true,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I’ve been trying out for 10 years now and am so grateful to have had this chance.” He blinked back tears. “This has been absolutely magical,” he said.

Bird also talked to a local news station, WPXI, about his experience on Wheel. “I’m going to be processing this for months,” he told the outlet. “This has been the most amazing experience.”

“I’ve watched Wheel of Fortune since the days of shopping for merchandise in the 1980s. It’s been a dream of mine, for all my life, to be on a game show, but this one specifically, it was such a big part of my formative years. I’ve been trying out for more than 10 years now, and I finally got my chance and just it went so much better than I ever dreamed it would,” the contestant said.