Ryan Seacrest Wheel of Fortune episode ended with Matt Malagiere missing Auto Body Shop in the Bonus Round and walking away from a $100,000 envelope. Seacrest looked visibly stunned, then moved in with a handshake and a hug after the loss.
Matt Malagiere and $13,300
Matt Malagiere entered the final round with $13,300 after a run that included a Bankrupt rebound, a solve of Parking Space Invaders, and a win in the Triple Toss-Up. He also cracked the final puzzle before the Bonus Round, which pushed his total to that level and set up the six-figure shot.
That sequence is the part viewers should care about if they track how Wheel of Fortune can swing in a single episode. He was not chasing a small add-on at the end; he was already protecting a real payday before the final envelope opened.
R, S, T, L, N, E
In the Bonus Round, Malagiere got R, S, T, L, N, and E, then chose H, D, M, and A as his extra letters. Those letters are the game’s last clue package, so the puzzle still had to fall fast if he was going to cash the envelope.
He did not solve Auto Body Shop, and the envelope held $100,000. That gap between a workable run and the missed prize is the whole story here: he finished with money, but not the six-figure payoff sitting one step beyond the board.
Howell, New Jersey
Malagiere, from Howell, New Jersey, also brought a real-world detail into the episode when he told Seacrest he was a longtime New York Giants season-ticket holder. When the host asked about tailgating, Malagiere said, “If you're talking about, let's say, New Orleans, we would do something like a jambalaya,” and then added, “We gotta make giant shrimp cocktail, obviously.”
Katie Henkenius finished with $12,430 after winning a trip to St. Maarten through the Prize Puzzle, while Stacey Colson ended the Second Round with $2,000. Malagiere’s $13,300 still led the episode’s final outcome, but the cleanest read is simple: he got through the game, then missed the one puzzle that would have turned an already solid win into a far bigger one.
