After more than three years, a lucky "Wheel of Fortune" contestant had a record-breaking sweep which earned him more than $91,000. Everybody that tuned in during the December 26 episode would surely remember the name of Matt DeSanto because he has set a new record for the game show.
The Pennsylvania-based player surprised the audience and even the other two contestants when he solved the puzzle with only one letter on the board. It was a Toss Up Round and the category was "character." The letter "E" appeared on the board and DeSanto somehow guessed the winning answer which was "The Lone Ranger." Watch the video below:
Matt DeSanto did the simple deductive reasoning to his guess. He told the NY Post "I knew that the first word was either a proper name or the word 'the'." He explained, "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'."
The new "Wheel of Fortune" record-holder solved every other puzzle and ended up taking home $91,892. So how did he do that? Matt DeSanto told Today, "The wheel definitely worked in my favor." He added, "I was extremely fortunate."
The dad of two revealed that he is a huge fan of the game show and has been watching it since he was just 5 years old. DeSanto also admitted that he didn't do any special preparation for the game show. He said, "Maybe some extra crossword puzzles."
So what was his secret to success? He laughed and said, "I tried not to overthink it too much." Matt DeSanto could have gone home a millionaire if he had won the final bonus round. His winning streak ended when he failed to guess the puzzle which is a "wooden gavel".
The lucky "Wheel of Fortune" contestant admitted, "I was pretty exhausted [by the bonus round]." He added, "I should have picked better letters."