Wheel of Fortune contestant declared ‘best ever’ by stunned viewers after ‘fantastic fix’ leads to $66,000 win

On By Littum

Wheel of Fortune viewers were left in awe of a contestant who appears to be a new favorite named Geoffrey Smith.

Monday night saw Smith show off his puzzle-solving skills on the beloved game show, with the Saint Cloud, Florida resident walking away with an impressive $66,000 for his trouble.

He faced Sonja Hughes, an obsessed beauty pageant from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Kaitlyn O’Keeffe, a high school social studies teacher from Deer Park, New York.

However, Smith immediately stood out among the trio and quickly took control of the game, winning the first round puzzle, the mystery round, the triple toss and the final speed round puzzle.

These quick successes saw the player with a healthy $26,000 in the bank going into the bonus round.

For the round he chose the usually more difficult ‘Phrase’ category. After studying the board he chose the extra letters, ‘C, F, M and I.’

Wheel of Fortune contestant declared ‘best ever’ by stunned viewers after ‘fantastic fix’ leads to ,000 win

Wheel of Viewers viewers were left delighted with what appears to be a new favorite contestant named Geoffrey Smith

Monday night saw Smith show off his puzzle-solving skills on the beloved game show, with the Saint Cloud, Florida resident solving the bonus round in style

Monday night saw Smith show off his puzzle-solving skills on the beloved game show, with the Saint Cloud, Florida resident solving the bonus round in style

That left him with a four-word puzzle that read: ‘_ _ ST / _ L _ RT / IT / _ _ T’.

Host Ryan Seacrest appeared to fear the puzzle might be too difficult for Smith, saying: “Take your time, it’s a sentence, you have ten seconds.”

But as soon as the ten-second timer started, Smith revealed his answer with confidence, saying: ‘Just Blurt It Out.’

‘Yes! Wait a minute… come on!’ Seacrest said in shock before opening the prize envelope.

The answer had given Smith an extra $40,000 to add to his winnings total.

Seacrest remarked, “You looked down at me like, ‘I don’t need you to talk anymore, Ryan, I just want to say it.’

Smith’s puzzle-solving skills instantly won over viewers, with one user on X, formerly Twitter, writing: ‘Geoffrey is the best #wheeloffortune player ever. Holy smokes.’

Others on YouTube praised his ‘fantastic solution’, while one wrote: ‘Feels like an example of being able to solve the puzzle based on which letters haven’t been chosen yet. Good job.’

For the round he chose the usually more difficult 'Phrase' category. But as soon as the ten-second timer started, Smith confidently revealed his answer, saying: 'Just Blurt It Out'

For the round he chose the usually more difficult ‘Phrase’ category. But as soon as the ten-second timer started, Smith confidently revealed his answer, saying: ‘Just Blurt It Out’

Smith's puzzle-solving skills instantly won over viewers on YouTube who praised his 'fantastic solution'

Smith’s puzzle-solving skills instantly won over viewers on YouTube who praised his ‘fantastic solution’

Another commented: ‘I solved it beforehand and with the letters he chose I thought he wouldn’t have got it but Geoffrey has proved me wrong! Well played Geoffrey, well played!

‘Wow this is perfect!! Great solution by Geoffrey!!!’ another wrote, while one fan agreed: ‘Great solution Geoffrey’

One viewer commented: ‘I’m pretty sure Geoffrey was just messing with us the whole time but I’m glad to see he got his well deserved $40,000. Congratulations!

He also looks like a giant standing next to Ryan Seacrest. Amazing!’

Another fan wrote: ‘Good job, I was worried about the letter choices because I figured out the puzzle beforehand… but you did great!’

“Geoffrey sure knew the riddle but purposely called the wrong letters apart from ‘I’ lol,” said one viewer.

Earlier in the show, Smith had told Seacrest that he grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, and used to watch Wheel of Fortune on his neighbors’ black-and-white TVs.

He then joked that he was surprised to see co-host Vanna White ‘in living colour’.

Earlier in the show, Smith had told Seacrest that he grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, and used to watch Wheel of Fortune on his neighbors' black-and-white TV

Earlier in the show, Smith had told Seacrest that he grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, and used to watch Wheel of Fortune on his neighbors’ black-and-white TV

He then joked that he was surprised to see co-host Vanna White 'in living colour'. White came over to congratulate Smith as he danced and celebrated his victory

He then joked that he was surprised to see co-host Vanna White ‘in living colour’. White came over to congratulate Smith as he danced and celebrated his victory

White came over to congratulate Smith as he danced and celebrated his victory.

The contestant’s humble demeanor mixed with his puzzle skills was another reason why he became a fan favorite as one viewer wrote: ‘He was amazing!! Wish it was more than $40,000!! CONGRATULATIONS.’

Another added: ‘Geoffrey came to the wheel of fortune to win big… congrats.’

Unfortunately, some fans didn’t get to see the episode because it was scheduled for the NFL after the playoffs.

One Reddit user explained: ‘ABC is airing an NFL Wild Card game tonight at 8 ET, with pregame at 7:30 p.m., which means WOF will not be able to air in many cities where it airs on ABC. Also, since most stations prefer Jeopardy! above Wheel of Fortune, some cities where WOF normally airs at 7 p.m., replacing it with Jeopardy! tonight only.’

The episode will be shown later this week for those cities that may have missed it.

Elsewhere, although some diehard fans have been slow to warm to new host Ryan Seacrest, adding him to the game show has been good for viewers.

Wheel of Fortune averaged 7.99 million viewers during Seacrest’s first month, and during that time the show was “the most-watched entertainment series across broadcast, cable and syndication,” according to Nielsen data per Newsweek.