Miami-Dade teacher’s 4-letter Wheel of Fortune Bonus Round win stuns Pat Sajak
Miami-Dade County Public Schools teacher Jessie Rebhan stood in front of the Wheel of Fortune Bonus Round puzzle with just four letters staring back at her: ----N- - ---CER.
But that was enough to solve the puzzle (BUYING A JUICER) and shock the world Thursday. Or, at least, shock Wheel host Pat Sajak, Wheel fans on social media, cable and online news outlets.
“I don’t understand this game!” said Sajak, Wheel’s host for over 38 years.
Rebhan said, “I kind of surprised myself.”
Surprised herself by the speed at which she nailed the puzzle, understand, not by getting it. Rebhan knew she was ready.
She’s not only a math, science and journalism teacher at Leewood K-8 Center, but a Miami Stingrays travel softball coach with husband and former FIU softball coach Gator Rebhan. And any teacher and coach knows you win the game or test in study and practice.
So, Rebhan called on not only years of indulging in The Wheel/Jeopardy Hour, but YouTube videos of Wheel of Fortune as well as two books on Wheel of Fortune’s bonus round. She said she spent the entire five-hour flight to Southern California devouring the books.
“Whatever the test, you’ve got to be prepared,” Rebhan said.
Stage fright wouldn’t be a problem. Rebhan lived with pressure situations growing up as a good enough athlete to play softball, basketball and volleyball in high school and softball at the University of Florida. Also, this wouldn’t be her first TV game show rodeo — the Rebhan family had been on “Family Feud” about 10 years ago, losing in sudden death before the Fast Money round (“Steve Harvey was hilarious,” Rebhan said.)
When it came time for Wheel’s bonus round, she chose “What Are You Doing?” She knew the first word in those puzzles always ended in “ing.”
The consonants and vowel given every bonus round, RSTLN and E, gave Rebhan the last two letters of the third word. For her three letters, she chose PCD and O.
“It looks daunting to me,” Sajack said, “But you have 10 seconds.”
The clock actually started four seconds later. By that point, it had already been 13 seconds since the C had been revealed, 13 seconds during which Rebhan ran through probable letter combinations of the remaining letters.
One second later, Rebhan said “Something a juicer.” Four seconds after that, she raised her voice with “Buying a juicer?”
That gave her $37,000 cash to bring her total winnings, which included a trip to Barbados, to $52,000.
Tougher than nailing the puzzle: not telling anyone about it. The episode was shot Dec. 12. It aired Feb. 6.
“I had to keep it a secret from everyone, even my children, for about two months,” Rebhan said. “It was really difficult.”
The lifelong competitor wants at least one more game show, this one a little more physical — “”Survivor” or “The Amazing Race,”” she said.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 6:17 PM.
