A Wheel of Fortune contestant revealed how he was going to spend his money after winning a whopping $72,000. The game show contestant spoke after encouraging the audience to cheer for him after his win.
Mike Gaethke, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, played against Greg Harrington, from Pflugerville, Texas, and Tiara Reed, from Oakland, California, on Wednesday, April 23. Gaethke is a bartender, a guitarist in the cover band, Tallboys, and a father of two daughters.
Reed, a therapeutic preschool teacher, won the first toss-up, adding $1,000 to her bank. Gaethke solved the second one, giving him $2,000. He then solved the first puzzle of the game and gained $14,700, after winning a Disney Princess Experience.
During the second puzzle, Gaethke picked up the Mystery Wedge and it had $10,000 on the back of it. If he solved the puzzle, he would add $10,000 to his bank, plus what he got for solving it. He did not solve it, as it went to Reed, and she solved “Comb, Conditioner, Brush.”
Gaethke racked up a hefty bank as he won the prize puzzle — “Local Delicacies”— and won a trip to Disney Aulani Resort, giving him $29,298. He also solved two out of the three Triple Toss-Ups, with Reed solving one.
Harrington, a professional speaker, and sometime host and emcee, finally got some money in the bank when he solved the final puzzle — “Not a Moment Too Soon.” This gave him a final total of $4,500. Reed left with $5,000. Gaethke was the night’s big winner with $32,298 in cash and prizes.
For the Bonus Round, he picked “What Are You Doing?” He didn’t appear to have any family or friends with him but mentioned he would take his daughters on the Disney trips.
After Wheel of Fortune gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” he chose “C,M,P, and A.” His puzzle then looked like “_ _ R_ _N_ _N A _ARM.” The real estate agent guessed “Working on a Farm,” which was correct. Host Ryan Seacrest showed him the envelope with $40,000 in it. This made his total $72,298.
“Let’s go!” Gaethke cheered as he turned to the audience. After he hugged Seacrest, he turned to the audience again and threw his hands up, encouraging them to cheer. “Let’s go! Come on!”
“You like to celebrate?” Ryan Secrest said. “You should after all of that.”
Gaethke has a love for game shows and previously made an appearance on The $100,000 Pyramid, according to an interview with CBS 58. “My entire life, I would watch Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune almost nightly. I’d record them. My old college roommate called me ‘game show,” he told the outlet. “It was always regular people just winning money, you could see yourself in their shoes, and you root for them.”
About winning so much on the show, Gaethke said, “It was crazy, I didn’t expect it to happen, I was just happy going and having the experience and the money was just a bonus. I was pleased with my performance, I don’t think I embarrassed myself too much.”
The father-of-two plans to spend his money on a shopping spree for his daughters and a new guitar, among other things. He said appearing on Wheel of Fortune was “fun” and “wild.” “You see it on TV, and then see it in person, just looking around, it’s wild,” he ended.
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
