A ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Contestant Won $145,000 And Donated It To Charity

Wheel of Fortune highlights are always hit and miss, but this one is decidedly feel-good in every way. The syndicated game show is often in the news for flubs or major mistakes from contestants and even its host, but Thursday’s episode saw a contestant win big and donate the money to a good cause.

Scott Kollbrenner was the big winner on Thursday, taking home $45,000 and getting a spot in the bonus round to win even more. What happened next was good enough to have the show set off confetti cannons, so you know it was a good day at the wheel.

Let’s see if you can play along with Scott here, who did a nice job of revealing a good set of letters here to get it right on the first guess.

Scott nailed “flowing white gown” right away, and the $100,000 card caused the confetti to fall for a bit of celebration. But the good vibes weren’t done there, as he later told the show that he planned to donate whatever he won after taxes to some very good causes.

— Wheel of Fortune (@WheelofFortune) March 19, 2021

Kollbrenner appeared on Good Morning America on Friday to explain why he decided to donate the money, saying it was a decision he made even before he had a prize purse to give away.

“It’s been a dark time, and when I went on the show I was doing it for the fun of it,” he said. “And I said to my wife as I went on ‘If I do OK here, anything I get let’s give it to charity. We’re very fortunate, let’s see if we can’t support some others who aren’t as fortunate as we are.’”

It’s a lovely gesture for sure, and one that will be remembered in show lore for some time. Interestingly, he said only people working on the show and his wife knew that he planned to donate the money, so everyone else in his life was in for a big surprise when they saw the confetti fall when the show finally aired.