‘Wheel of Fortune’: Good Luck Charm Makes Contestant a Game Show Legacy

It is not very often that a game show contestant has a parent that was also on a game show years prior- a game show legacy, if you will. That is exactly the case for Pierce Goodbread, and both of their appearances were preceded by a stop at a Los Angeles diner.

Goodbread appeared on Wheel of Fortune on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. He played against Ricky Lowery, from Fresno, Texas, and Kimberly Malesky, from Santa Barbara, California. Although Goodbread didn’t win, he took home a good chunk of change and made his parents proud.

His father, Chase, who works for the Tuscaloosa News, wrote an article about Pierce, an attorney from Atlanta, Georgia, and the connection he and his wife, Michelle, have. Chase is convinced that Swingers Diner on Beverly Boulevard is the family’s good luck charm. He took his wife to the diner in 2000, right before she appeared on The Price is Right. She was chosen to play, got to meet Bob Barker, and went home with some prizes, including a full dining room set and a Lladro porcelain figurine.

“We sold it all upon delivery because at the time we couldn’t afford to pay California’s exorbitant state taxes on what she’d won,” Chase wrote.

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25 years later, Pierce got a call that he was chosen to be on Wheel of Fortune, so naturally, the family had to eat at Swingers before his episode was taped. Pierce wound up taking home $14,250. He didn’t win the game or advance to the Bonus Round, but he is happy with his earnings and shared what he plans to do with them: make a dent in his law school loans.

Pierce didn’t win the Mini-Cooper that was parked on stage, but neither did his opponent, Lowery, who couldn’t solve the Bonus Round puzzle. He did take an early lead after solving the first two toss-ups, but it wasn’t enough to win it all in the end. Host Ryan Seacrest congratulated him on his prize pot.

Chase and Michelle got to attend Pierce’s taping and revealed how different the two game shows are. When Michelle was on TPIR, she was allowed to ask her husband and the crowd for guidance. Chase’s help caused Michelle to lose the game anyway. However, in Wheel, contestants are not allowed to get help from the audience. Phones have to be shut off for both shows.

From TV Guide Magazine

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