That happened fast! A $1 million profit almost came about during Ryan Seacrest’s second week as host of Wheel of Fortuneand note: the last time this award was won during a regular season was exactly 10 years ago tomorrow.

The last time a non-celebrity player won $1 million was Sarah Manchester, whose win aired on September 17, 2014. The one playing for the top prize on the September 16, 2024, episode will be Vivian Tran, the red player. She didn’t end up leaving the episode a millionaire, but the fact that she had the rare opportunity to win the show’s ultimate prize so early in Seacrest’s run feels like a huge turn of events for the ratings.

A promo for the Monday, September 16 episode announced that the $1 million prize had been added to the Bonus Round. “Oh my gosh, this could be it. There it is,” Seacrest said in the promo, an excited look on his face. In his hands was the $1 million envelope, which replaces the $100,000 prize on the Bonus Round wheel if a player qualifies for the upgrade. The promo confirmed that a player would get a chance to play for it, but of course did not reveal whether they walked away as a winner.

A number of things had to go right for Vivian to qualify for the jackpot. According to the Wheel of Fortune rules, to win $1 million a contestant must spin the wheel and land on the “ONE MILLION” wedge, call out a correct letter, and then solve that round’s puzzle without going bust. They must then win the game overall without ever going bust, which sends them to the Bonus Round. That’s when the $100,000 envelope on the Bonus Wheel is replaced with the $1 million.

To win the top prize, Vivian would have had to land on the $1 million envelope on the Bonus Wheel and correctly solve the Bonus Round puzzle. Unfortunately for Vivian, that didn’t happen. But it does mark the first time the show’s biggest jackpot has been in play since Seacrest began hosting on September 9.

Vivian went into the Bonus Round with a total of $27,300, a trip to Europe, the WILD card (which gave her an extra letter) and the ONE MILLION wedge. She had chosen What Are You Doing?. “My heart is racing,” Seacrest said, as Vivian played for the $1 million. “There’s a lot of money on the wheel tonight. Will she be the big winner?”

RSTLNE gave her _ _ _ ER_N_ S_ _E _EL_. She chose CHMI and P for her bonus letter, and gave her _ _ _ ERIN _ S_ME HELP. But she couldn’t get “OFFERING SOME HELP.”

Seacrest responded sympathetically when he showed her that she had landed on the $1 million envelope. “You were so close to $1 million,” he told her. “You were close? Are you okay?” She confirmed that she was. “Breathe,” he told her, indicating how much she was still taking (including a trip). “You’ve been so amazing. Thank you so much.” He then spoke to the camera, saying, “I can’t believe it. When I picked it up and I was like, oh my god, this could be it. There it is, so close.”

Afterward, Vanna White and Seacrest continued to talk about how close it was; they knew it when Vivian landed on the envelope on the wheel. “Adrenaline is pumping through my body right now,” Seacrest added. “She was about to go with that wild card, extra consonant. It was so close. I thought it was going to happen.”

This top prize was first introduced in September 2008 and has only been won four times. The first time was just a month after its introduction on October 14, 2008, when Michelle Loewenstein won big. The second win was by Autumn Erhard in May 2013 and the third was Manchester’s win in 2014. Manchester is still the last person to win the jackpot in a regular season. The fourth winner is Sabrina the teenage witch alumna Melissa Joan Hart, who won the jackpot on Wheel of Fortune Celebrities in an episode that aired on October 17, 2021.

Vivian is only the 13th player in Wheel of Fortune history to have a shot at the $1 million. Since Sarah’s winning episode also aired on the 17th of a month, it seems like that’s the lucky number! How much should we read into the fact that the 13th player to play for $1 million, the unluckiest number there is, and her loss came just one day before the anniversary of the last big win? This could certainly fuel the superstitious, but then again, the top prize was won earlier in 2013. So chalk it all up to coincidence.

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