Chad’s 4-Game Run on Wheel of Fortune

Chad Cabanilla of Minnesota won his first Wheel of Fortune game on Thursday, 4/16/26 during Wheel’s special “Spring Forward” feature, which began on 4/6/26. He became the first contestant to win twice when he played again on Friday. Chad’s streak continued until he was defeated by Edwin Bates on Wednesday, 4/23/26. It wasn’t a total loss because, unlike Jeopardy!, Wheel contestants get to keep any money they finish with. So Chad got an additional $12,655 on top of the $171,068 from the games he won. This came to $183,723 in cash and prizes.

We watch the Bonus Round every night and usually only keep up 2 rounds. Just for this month, we decided to keep up all the rounds for a returning champ so here we have the recaps of Chad’s 4 trips to the Bonus Round.

These common letters are always turned over in the bonus puzzle before the player chooses letters: R, S, T, L, N, E.

Thu 4-16-26: On Wheel of Fortune: $18,293
On Jeopardy: $35,000

PHRASE: _ ‘ M 🟪 _ _ _ T E
_ R O _ D 🟪 O F 🟪 _ O _

Chad chose the letters M, D, F and O. All those choices were in there and that should have made it a cinch. Somehow, Chad got tripped up by the second word and that threw him off the track even though he knew the next 2 words. That was twice as
_ N _ _ R T _ N _ T E
as some others we’ve seen because he not only overthought it, he missed out on an extra $45K.

BONUS PUZZLE SOLUTION: show

---

---

Fri 4-17-26: On Wheel of Fortune: $71,417
On Jeopardy: $30,000

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
W _ T C _ _ N _
_ 🟪 _ _ L M

Chad is the first player to win 2 WOF games in a row. He got one of each consonant but no O.
_ N _ E 🟪 _ _ _ _ N,
it looked like Chad struck gold. There must have been a lot of gasps and groans at his first try of “palm” for the last word. Oh, no, not again! But, this time, Chad recovered and solved the puzzle. That was worth an extra $50K bonus on top of the $21,417 in the main game. Adding yesterday’s $18,293 in there brings Chad’s cumulative winnings to $89,710. As Ryan pointed out, it’s not over yet. Tune in on Monday for the return of Chad.

BONUS PUZZLE SOLUTION: show

---

---

Mon 4-20-26: On Wheel of Fortune: $44,932
On Jeopardy: $21,000

LIVING THING: _ 🟪 _ _ _ _
I N 🟪 F L I _ _ T

After solving every puzzle in this game, Chad was off to his 3rd crack at a bonus round puzzle. He chose the letters B, D, F and I and got an F and two I’s. Chad went for the first phrase that would make you think of, not realizing every single letter he chose would be showing. He switched to a fish, which was no
_ _ _ R _ _ E _ E N T.
In both of his prior bonus rounds, Chad chose a W but this time, when he really needed it, he didn’t! Verrrry interesting, but costly. Chad missed out on an extra $75K. At the end, they showed his cumulative winnings of $134,642. Up top, we’re showing what he won in this game.

BONUS PUZZLE SOLUTION: show

---

---

Tue 4-21-26: On Wheel of Fortune: $36,426
On Jeopardy: $21,601

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
_ S _ N G 🟪 A
P R _ M _ 🟪 C _ _ E

Chad’s back in the bonus round for the 4th time! He chose the letters P, G, C and A. He also had a Wild Card and chose an M with it. Chad is a
_ E N _ _ N E
marvel at choosing the right letters. This time, he got them all. Too bad he keeps making the same mistake in the bonus round: trying words he oughta know can’t be there. One of the guesses he threw out there was “PRiME” and another was “CARE”, (capitalizing the letters that would have been showing). This approach wastes valuable seconds and is mighty costly to boot. It cost Chad another $75K today. Chad’s cumulative total is $171,068 for 4 games.

BONUS PUZZLE SOLUTION: show

---

Not everyone is thrilled with the returning champ idea for Wheel of Fortune.

Whatever they decide to do, it worked out rather well for Chad! Also, Edwin solved the bonus round after he sent Chad home and, for the third time in a row, the $75K bonus showed up, so it worked out well for Edwin, too.