A Wheel of Fortune contestant admitted that the game has her in a “chokehold” before losing $63,000 in the Bonus Round. The mom-of-three auditioned multiple times and never heard back until he made a simple video in her backyard.
Kari Deeks, from Medina, Ohio, appeared on the podcast SHEnanigans in June 2025 and shared her love for the game show. She shared that she grew up watching it with her grandparents. “I’ve been obsessed ever since. I can spell, and I know phrases,” Deeks said.
“Wheel of Fortune has gotten me in this chokehold,” she admitted. “I have sent audition tapes for this show multiple times over the years, and I’ve never gotten any response.”
“So, last June, I decided to try it one more time, and decided to just go in my backyard, and took my phone and made a video. It was cut and dry, super stupid. A month later, I get an email from a producer asking me to come audition.”
Deeks finally got her chance to achieve her dream on Thursday, December 4, when she played against Mark Pittman, from Douglasville, Georgia, and Jaelyn Cooper, from Houston, Texas. Deeks is married to a man named Jacob, and they share three daughters.
The game didn’t start off well for Deeks as Pittman, a man who has silly string fights with his family every Christmas, solved both Toss-Ups. However, she got on the board when she solved the “Before and After Puzzle” — “The North Pole Vault.” She obtained a Wild Card and put $2,400 in her bank.
Deeks lost her Wild Card during the second puzzle when she landed on Bankrupt. Pittman maintained the lead with $3,900 after he solved “Getting Cozy By The Fire.”
Deeks took the lead when she solved the Prize Puzzle — “Nothing But Sunshine” — and won a Disney Wish Cruise. She put $19,921 in her bank.
She added $4,000 to her bank when she solved two of the three Tripls Toss-Ups. Pittman solved the other. Cooper, a woman who claims she is part-mermaid, solved the final puzzle — “Happy Carolers” — which gave her a final total of $5,950. Pittman went home with $5,900. Deeks was the big winner with $23,921.
Deeks chose “Phrase” for her Bonus Round category. After being given “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” she chose “H,D,M, and A.”
Her puzzle then looked like “_ _ERL_ AM_ _T_ _ _S.” As the clock counted down, Deeks made a raspberry with her lips as she couldn’t fathom a guess.
The puzzle turned out to be “Overly Ambitious.” She lost out on taking home an additional $40,000, which would have given her $63,921.
Despite losing the Bonus Round, Deeks shared her excitement for the game on her Facebook page. “My fun fact for today is that this was genuinely one of the best experiences and blew away my expectations. It was something I wanted and something that I made happen. If nothing else, I am the perfect example of the old cliche, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” she wrote.
“If you want something, go for it because no matter how crazy it may seem- it could happen.”
Wheel of Fortune, Weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock