It takes a certain level of skill to win the big bucks Wheel of Fortune and Kentucky native Lidia Abbot put her skills on full display. The mother of four earned more than $65,000 on the Thursday, December 19, episode of the long-running game show thanks to a smart play.
The abbot completed the main round from Wheel luck with a whopping $28,729 in cash as well as a trip to the Bahamas. However, it was her clever choice of letters in the bonus round that helped her land an even bigger payout.
The bonus round category was titled “What are you doing?” with Abbot guessing “DCM” as her other consonants and “A” as her next vowel. Well, the choices “M” and “A” couldn’t have helped the abbot any more, as the prompt now read “MA _ _ N _ / _ NA _ _ _ _ NT _ EN T.” Abbot only had ten seconds to guess, but she got it right on the first try: “I’ll make an appointment.”
Host Ryan Seacrest loudly expressed that she got it right, then opened the prize card to reveal that Abbot would be taking home an additional $40,000!
Wheel of Fortune shared a Bonus Round video on her official YouTube channel where many pointed out how clever Abbot was in the letter choices she made.
“Great choice of letters Lydia as ‘M’ was the right consonant to choose and ‘A’ was the right vowel to choose turned into a good solution to win,” he wrote on the person.
Another person agreed, writing: “If she hadn’t chosen A as a vowel, she would have been toast.”
“Well done, Lydia! You did a great job!” shouted a third person.
Abbot celebrated her big win alongside her son, mother and husband.
Seacrest replaced the legendary Pat Sajak as host Wheel of Luck this season. Sajak retired after four decades as the face of the show.