‘Wheel of Fortune’: Local DJ Speaks Out After Bonus Round Disaster

A Franklin County, Pennsylvania, DJ got to meet his childhood hero after his friends encouraged him to audition for Wheel of Fortune. Ryan Smetzer lost out on winning $40,000 in the Bonus Round, but still had his “dreams come true.”

Smetzer hosts the MIX95.1 morning show every weekday morning, but fans now got to put a face to the name and voice. He wanted to become a DJ ever since he was a kid and would say the morning announcements every day in school. But, he also had another dream growing up – to meet Ryan Seacrest. So, his friends encouraged him to try out and made both of his dreams come true.

“I had a couple of friends that had reached out and said, ‘Hey, you know Wheel of Fortune is doing some auditions,” he told FOX 43. “You might wanna throw your name in the ring and just see what happens.”

Weeks later, Smetzer was chosen to play Wheel, which he had been watching with his parents since he was two years old. He told The Ben and Kelly Show, which airs before him on the radio, that he would watch Jeopardy!, then Wheel of Fortune, then American Idol. “So, I either wanted to be the next Alex Trebek, Pat Sajak, or Ryan Seacrest,” he said. “Btu Seacrest was always the top one.”

 

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He flew to California in December 2024 to film the episode. “Ever since I was about seven years old, I always told my parents I wanted to be the next Ryan Seacrest,” he told FOX 43.

Despite watching the game show nightly, Smetzer had to brush up on his skills before coming on. “As soon as I got to the round of auditions where I got more serious and they were like ‘hey, we’re gonna do some puzzle rounds,’ I was like, alright we’re gonna get the game out on PlayStation and start playing some of the games a little bit more started watching some more episodes,” he said.

“It’s one of the quickest, most surreal 30 minutes of your life. You’re in there, you’re doing the show, you’re playing the game. It’s exactly what you see when you’re watching it on TV every single night.”

Smetzer’s episode aired Friday, February 28. “It was a fun experience,” he told Fox 43.

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Despite having fun and getting to meet his idol, Smetzer messed up in the Bonus Round. He won $16,300 and a trip to St. Croix in the Carribean after playing against Janelle Fulford, another game show enthusiast and contemporary cubist from West Palm Beach, Florida, and Jessica Frey, from Las Vegas, Nevada, who is a proud mom of four children.

When it came time for the Bonus Round, Smetzer choked in front of his idol. He brought his girlfriend, Kaitlin, with him, whom he is going to take to St. Croix. Smetzer chose “Thing” for his final puzzle. After Wheel gave him “R, S, T, L, N, and E,” he chose “B, H, W, and A.”

Smetzer’s puzzle looked like: “_R_ _ _ _ WEATHER.” After Seacrest started the 10-second countdown, Smetzer guessed, “Breezy Weather,” but that wasn’t correct. “Drizzly Weather,” he said again right before the buzzer went off. However, he was wrong both times, as the puzzle was revealed to be “Frigid Weather.” He lost out on adding $40,000 to his winnings.

“It was so nice to meet you,” Seacrest told Smetzer while shaking his hand.

With a huge smile on his face, the contestant replied, “Nice to meet you too, man.”

On Thursday, February 20, a local ex-TV anchor from Wisconsin, Heather Foster, appeared on Wheel, and unlike Smetzer, she won nearly $90,000 and a trip to Iceland after correctly winning the Bonus Round.