Jason Miner was the big winner when he played Wheel of Fortune – but he had to keep it a secret until last week.

Family and friends of the former teacher headed to the WNIN public theater to have the experience of a lifetime – watch miners compete on the Wheel of Fortune – and win.

An avid viewer of the game show, he said that while you don’t always win when you “play” at home, he scored a big victory when he flew to Los Angeles with his family for the taping.

He said he didn’t know why they chose him for the show.

“I would like to think that maybe it’s a little bit personality-related,” he said. “I may have solved a few puzzles correctly when I did the Zoom interview, but I think they could probably see how excited I was and how much I really wanted to be a part of the show.”

Miner had forgotten that he had applied for the fall 2023 show. Producers eventually contacted him for a series of Zoom interviews, which led to him being on the show.

He said they filmed six other shows that day and his was the last. He said when he first saw stars Vanna White and Ryan Seacrest he was a little impressed.

“But they were so down to earth, so nice, so friendly – ​​it was like having your neighbor in your room. So you haven’t put yourself on a pedestal at all.”

He said there was no grand strategy to win. Before he left, he studied a lot about words and word prefixes and suffixes. “That might have helped a little, but I think luck also plays a big role,” he said. “It’s just a matter of knowing which letters are missing, which letters go together.”

Solving puzzles in front of a studio audience was more difficult than solving them from the couch at home, but after watching five recordings of the show, he was pretty relaxed.

At the end of the game he had the most money and solved the most puzzles. A cheer erupted from the crowd as he called out the winning riddle: “So Much In Common.”

He won nearly $78,000 in cash and prizes – $18,000 in cash, a trip to Las Vegas and a Mercedes Benz to choose from in LA.

He said he was receiving the money and prizes late. He will receive the money 120 days after the broadcast and the car 150 days. The trip must be booked within the next 12 months.

“It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. I had the idea, “Let’s just go and have fun and not make fools of ourselves.” And I don’t think I did it. I had fun,” Miner said.

“Winning was the furthest thing from my mind. When that happened, it was a big surprise. It was a great experience. And I’m glad I don’t have to keep the secret anymore.”

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