“The Home ... Manger?” Source: YouTube
MEET Matt DeSanto: the greatest Wheel of Fortune contestant in history.
The operations manager from Pennsylvania cleaned up on the game show on Friday — answering his way to a full sweep of all the puzzles, two paid vacations and a record $US91,892 ($A113,084) in winnings.
Longtime host Pat Sajak could do nothing but laugh when DeSanto started the episode off with a bang, somehow guessing a three-word character with nothing but the letter “E” on the board.
“The Lone Ranger?” the 35-year-old asked, before his answer was shockingly affirmed.
DeSanto’s explanation behind the guess — simple deductive reasoning.
“I knew that the first word was either a proper name or the word ‘the’,” he told the Post on Monday. “If it’s a proper name, I’d have no shot. I said let’s go with ‘the’ — so I went with the letter ‘E’.”
Once he buzzed in his correct answer, audience members could be heard gasping in amazement as DeSanto’s opponents chuckled and stared at him in disbelief.
“I don’t want to cause trouble at home, but I still [sic] think there’s a connection with you and Vanna,” Sajak jokingly told him during the October 30 taping.
A fan of Wheel of Fortune since he was five years old, DeSanto has always been intrigued with its style of game.
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
“I love the hangman concept of puzzles,” he said. “They make you feel like anybody can play.”
With his wife Jennifer in the audience, DeSanto cruised all the way to the bonus round — where his reign of terror finally ended after he barely missed the final clue. The father of two had incorrectly guessed “gavel” instead of saying “wooden gavel”.
“When I play at home, I pretty much know if I got it quickly,” DeSanto said. “If I don’t have it right away, I know it will be tough. For this round, I could have picked some better letters. I knew I didn’t have it so I instead took the opportunity to say ‘hi’ to Pat.”
During the show’s farewell segment, Sajak let DeSanto know how impressed he was with his record-breaking performance. They even chatted about hockey.
“We had a couple seconds before the camera went on,” said DeSanto. “He said, ‘Hey nice job,’ then we talked about the Flyers vs. the Kings and the hockey game.”
Even before DeSanto collects any money, he already feels gifted with a moment he will never forget.
“I’m glad that I was able to have my wife in the audience and it was nice to see and experience the episode with family and friends,” he said. “It was a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will remember forever.”
This article originally appeared on New York Post and was republished with permission.
