It finally happened! Wheel of Fortune fans were rejoicing after a contestant won their second game. So far, returning champions have only won one game, but it changed on April 17.
Chad Cabanilla, from Nicolett, Minnesota, returned for his second game as part of the Spring Forward Champions Tournament. On April 16, he won $18,293 and tried to win his second on Friday.
He played against Hank Hudson, from Pleasant Hill, Missouri, who is married with three children. Hudson solved both toss-ups, giving him $3,000. The men played against Christal Anderson, from Minnesota.
During the first round, Cabanilla, a flight attendant, obtained the Wild Card and a trip to Seattle, Washington, after landing on the wedge. He solved “Crispy, Crunchy, Crumbling” for $11,389.
After a tough round for Anderson, a woman who used to play defensive end for a semi-pro women’s tackle football team, with Bankrupts and wrong guessed letters, the turn moved to Cabanilla. He solved “Check The Yellow Pages” for $13,389.
Even though Cabanaill lost the Wild Card in the next round, he solved “Taking a Week Off” for a trip to Costa Rica. This gave him $21,417.
Hudson solved two of three Triple Toss-ups. Anderson finally got on the board when she solved the last one. She also solved the final puzzle — “Little League Baseball.” This gave her a total of $9,700.
Hudson went home with $7,000. Cabanilla’s total was $21,417. He was the first champion to win two games under the current tournament.
He advanced to the Bonus Round, where he chose “What Are You Doing?” Cabanilla once again brought his husband and best friend with him.
Wheel of Fortune gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” Cabanilla picked “W,C,M, and O.”
The puzzle looked like “W_TC_ _N_ _ _ _LM.” As the clock counted down, Canabilla guessed “Watching a Palm.” He finally landed on “Watching a Film,” which was right.
There was $50,000 in the envelope, which gave the game show contestant a total of $71,417. Cabanilla had a two-day total of $89,710. He will return on Monday for his third game.
Fans reacted to the two-time win on Reddit. “Finally, a repeat winner,” one said.
“ONE DAY STREAK IS OVER,” another wrote.
“I was just rooting for someone to finally break the curse of 1-day winners. Congrats Chad! Hope he keeps it going on Monday,” a third added.
“Finally! happy for him,” a fan said.
“Finally! I nearly screamed when he won the prize puzzle, lol,” one said.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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