Wheel of Fortune history has been made with a prize of more than $1 million.
The game show crowned its biggest winner ever after Christina Derevjanik of Stamford, Connecticut, won $1,035,155 during the Tuesday, September 30, episode. She scored the win after securing trips to Montana and Tokyo and earning $35,155 in cash and prizes.
In the bonus round, Derevjanik, 35, selected the “Living Things” category and solved the puzzle that read, “PACK OF COYOTES.”
Host Ryan Seacrest opened the prize envelope to reveal that she won $1 million, which resulted in confetti raining down on the pair. Derevjanik hugged Seacrest and Vanna White, who told her, “I’m so happy for you!”
Seacrest, 50, then pulled Derevjanik back on the stage and remarked, “I’m in tears. You’re a millionaire! Do you know you have more than $1 million?”
Derevjanik, who joked before the win that she was going to retire early from her job as a marketing manager if she took home the grand prize, then turned the camera and gave her boss a message: “We’ll have a discussion once we get back to the office.”
After the episode, Derevjanik confessed to production that she was “trying to manifest” her win.
“I was hoping for confetti, but I never thought it would actually happen,” she continued.
Derevjanik is the game show’s fourth contestant to win the million-dollar prize, breaking the record previously set by Sarah Manchester with $1,017,490 in 2014. Prior to Manchester, Autumn Erhard took home $1,030,340 in 2013. Michelle Lowenstein was the first contestant to win $1,026,080 when the million-dollar prize debuted in 2008.
Melissa Joan Hart also won $1,027,800 on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune in October 2021. The money went to the nonprofit organization Youth Villages.
Derevjanik’s win also marked Seacrest’s first million-dollar winner since he became the host of Wheel of Fortune in September 2024. He celebrated the achievement with a post on Instagram after the episode, sharing photos of the moment Derevjanik scored her prize.
“Ecstatic doesn’t even cover it, my first million-dollar win just set a new Wheel record!” he captioned the post. “Biggest win ever. Biggest grin ever. I’ll never forget this moment.”
Many fans celebrated with Seacrest and Derevjanik in the comments.
“This was such a great episode tonight! So excited for Christina! I had a feeling when I saw the “&” it was going to be lucky,” one user wrote. “Hmmmm, did Christina give her two weeks notice to her boss yet?”
Another person added, “Your genuine happiness makes us all the more happy about this moment! Thank you, Ryan! 🙏”
Ryan Seacrest celebrated the legacy of “iconic” Pat Sajak after the longtime Wheel of Fortune host officially exited the game show after four decades. “Pat, congratulations on an incredible run with Wheel of Fortune! Your dedication, charm, and wit have made the show a beloved part of American television for decades,” Seacrest, 49, wrote via […]
Seacrest took over the Wheel of Fortune hosting position from Pat Sajak, who announced his retirement in June 2023. (Sajak, 78, continued hosting Celebrity Wheel of Fortune until this past June.)
Ahead of Seacrest starting his Wheel of Fortune role, Pat’s daughter, Maggie Sajak, gushed about how “great” and “professional” the American Idol host is.
“I’m sure you would assume but he really appreciates the show and knows how important it is,” Maggie, 29, exclusively told Us Weekly in September 2024. “You can really tell by how prepared he is and how he treats the contestants and how he treats the whole experience.”
Maggie added that the show is “in great hands, so we’re excited to see where it goes.”
