Blythewood resident wins big on “Wheel of Fortune”
BLYTHEWOOD, SC (WOLO) — One lucky contestant on Wednesday night’s episode of “Wheel of Fortune” won $78,446 in cash and prizes!
And to make it even more special -the show’s big winner, Matt Benton, is from Blythewood!
Benton is a Navy Veteran, realtor, high school golf coach, and substitute teacher.
“It’s extremely gratifying. I’ve dreamt of being on “Wheel of Fortune” since I was a kid. I’ve watched “Wheel of Fortune” as a kid. I probably watched it 90% of the nights it was on, watched it with my Mom. Ever since then I’ve wanted to be on it. And if you’re gonna be on it, you want to win it,” he says.
And win it, he did, raking in a trip to both Iceland and Canada, solving the final puzzle, and taking home $40,000 in cash!
The answer to the final puzzle? “A Faraway Land.”
“What was going through your head before the final puzzle when you knew you may or may not win?” asks ABC Columbia’s Lee Williams.
“I tried to give myself a break even before filming began. I kind of said ‘You know what? This is a once in a lifetime experience. If you win or lose it’s gonna be a great day, and so by the time I made it to the bonus round when I’d won the main part of the game, I was like, ‘You know what? It can’t get much better than this,'” says Benton.
“So what was it like meeting Ryan and Vanna?” asks Williams.
“Vanna came in early in the morning and I bet you by 6:30 or 7, Vanna was already there, and she was really sweet! She came in the room with us, and Ryan was fantastic, went out of his way, not only for the contestants, but definitely went out of his way to talk to the families that were there and the audience that were there,” says Benton.
And next, he’d like to take a shot at trying out for “Jeopardy!”
But for now, he says he’s riding the high.
“Next is just enjoying what we have, I’ll probably ride this high for a little bit. This is really exciting, and so really try to live in the moment, these couple of trips that I won are gonna be incredible, and try to be smart with the money I won,” he laughs.
“Wheel of Fortune” airs weeknights at 7 p.m. on ABC (WOLO).
