Wheel of Fortune viewers were thrilled with a contestant named Geoffrey Smith, who appears to be a new favorite.

On Monday night, Smith showed off his puzzle-solving skills on the popular game show, with the Saint Cloud, Florida resident earning an impressive $66,000 for his troubles.

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

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

These quick wins left the player with a whopping $26,000 in the bank heading into the bonus round.

For the round he chose the normally more difficult category “Phrase”. After studying the board, he selected the additional letters “C, F, M, and I.”

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 as he said: “Take your time, it’s a phrase, you’ve got ten seconds.”

But as soon as the 10-second timer started, Smith confidently revealed his answer, saying, “Just let it out.”

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

The answer had earned Smith an additional $40,000 to add to his total winnings.

Seacrest noted, “You looked down at me and said, ‘You don’t have to talk anymore, Ryan, I just want to blurt it out.'”

Smith’s puzzle-solving skills immediately won over viewers, with one user on

Others on YouTube praised his “amazing solution,” as one wrote: “Looks like an example of solving the puzzle based on the letters that haven’t been chosen yet. Great job.”

Another commented: “I solved it before and with the letters he chose I thought he hadn’t got it but Geoffrey proved me wrong!” Well played Geoffrey, well played!

“Wow, this is perfect!! Great solution from Geoffrey!!!’ another wrote, while a fan agreed: “Great solution Geoffrey”

One viewer commented: “I’m pretty sure Geoffrey has been ripping us off this whole time, but I’m glad to see he got his well-deserved $40,000.” Congratulations!

“Plus he looks like a giant standing next to Ryan Seacrest. ‘Great!’

Another fan wrote: “Great job, I was worried about the letter choice because I figured out the puzzle before… but you did great!”

“Geoffrey definitely knew the riddle but purposely said the wrong letters other than the ‘I’ lol,” one viewer explained.

Earlier in the show, Smith told Seacrest that he grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, and watched “Wheel of Fortune” on his neighbors’ black-and-white television.

He then joked that he was amazed to see co-host Vanna White “in vivid color.”

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

The contestant’s humble demeanor coupled with his puzzle-solving skills was another reason he became a fan favorite, as one viewer wrote: “He was awesome!! I wish it had been over $40,000!! CONGRATULATIONS.’

Another added: “Geoffrey got on the wheel to win big… congratulations.”

Unfortunately, some fans were unable to see the episode because it was preempted for the NFL post-playoffs.

A 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 cannot be broadcast in many cities where it airs on ABC. “ Since most networks also show Jeopardy! Wheel of Fortune will be featured on Jeopardy! in some cities where WOF typically airs at 7 p.m. replaced. Just for tonight.’

The episode will be shown later this week for cities that were forced to forego it.

Although some die-hard fans were slow to warm to new host Ryan Seacrest, the game show’s inclusion was good for ratings.

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