Jeffrey Knight is the talk of the town.
The Long Beach fitness instructor and microgreens grower appeared on “Wheel of Fortune” last month, winning $14,000 and a trip to Hawaii, though he missed out on the grand prize because of a final puzzle that even longtime host Pat Sajak admitted was tough — while accidentally giving away the answer.
“This is kind of crazy,” Knight said. “I’m better known for missing the answer that the host gave to me.”
Let’s fill in the blanks.
Knight, who moved from San Diego to Long Beach five years ago, teaches a Tuesday morning group fitness class at Mission Muay Thai, a martial arts gym on Orange Avenue. And on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, he sells microgreens — which he learned about from his health-conscious mother — at farmers markets in Bixby Park, Marine Stadium and downtown Long Beach.
But his “Wheel of Fortune” fandom has existed since he was a youngster.
“I sent them a video because I thought, ‘Wow, now is my chance, this is my shot,’” Knight said. “They liked the video and got back in touch with me.”
Knight did well in the online game and then was called to be an alternate, but never got on air. He then got a call to compete on Jan. 29.
But the shows are taped well in advance of airing, so Knight had to keep his appearance a secret.
The show eventually aired on April 15.
In the main part of the show, he outperformed his two competitors, winning about $14,000 and a trip for two to Hawaii.
But then came the bonus round.
For the uninitiated, the end of each episode features the winning contestant with a chance to nab the grand prize, which is kept secret until after that final round, by solving one last puzzle. Like all the other rounds, the final puzzle starts by revealing the category — in Knight’s case, it was a phrase. The show gives the final contestants the same six letters each episode: R, S, T, L, N and E. The contestants then get to guess three consonants and a vowel.
Once that’s done, the contestants get 10 seconds to solve their puzzles.
Before Knight picked his letters, he saw this:
_ _ _ TE
_ R_N _ L _.
He then guessed A, P, G and H.
He got one letter — an A after the N in the second word.
Not ideal.
And even Sajak admitted that.
“Yikes,” the host said.
Then, through laughter that made it somewhat difficult to make out his words on the first listen, Sajak said, “I’d rather rather be standing here than there, quite frankly.”
Knight stood silently during his 10 seconds — unable to scrounge up a guess.
The correct phrase?
“Quite frankly.”
Sajak gave away the answer, but Knight didn’t pick up on it.
“I really wanted to win,” Knight said. “I was really intense. I was in the game. I picked my letters but only one of the letters I chose showed up.
“And then he goes with his ‘quite frankly’ line but I was drawing a complete blank,” he added. “Right after the theme music came on, (Sajak) realized what happened. Now it’s big news.”
Knight lost out on $38,000.
“The whole thing was pretty cool,” Knight said. “He really wanted me to win. I can’t believe it happened; I keep watching it over and over.”
The Link LonkMay 04, 2021 at 08:00PM
https://www.gazettes.com/people/long-beachs-jeffrey-knight-misses-hint-on-wheel-of-fortune/article_130a09c6-ab89-11eb-b665-7f60abd0048a.html
Long Beach's Jeffrey Knight Misses Hint On "Wheel Of Fortune" - Gazette Newspapers
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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