Simsbury Woman Wins Big On National Television

SIMSBURY, CT — A Simsbury woman was a big cash winner in front of millions of television viewers Tuesday night on America's most popular game show.

Vanessa Lambert, owner of Pixel & Code Studio with her husband, Bruce, won four rounds during the Oct. 16 telecast of Wheel of Fortune, pocketing $10,550 in cash.

"It was a suspenseful game," she told Patch the day after the show aired. "I held the million dollar wedge for a round, but unfortunately Bankrupt got me. The wheel was a little tricky, multiple bankrupts, but luckily I was able to solve puzzles pretty quickly to try to gather as much cash as I could."

Lambert said she was disappointed she did not get to play during the prize puzzle portion of the game.

"The prize puzzle is usually the real money-maker," she said. "Unfortunately I never even got a chance to touch the wheel during the round because the other two contestants went before me, which was disappointing because I knew that puzzle pretty quick."

Lambert attended an open casting call for the show in June at the Foxwoods Casino, then received a final callback in July before being selected. The program was taped in August.

Among the viewers Tuesday night was a group of members of Simsbury Neighbors Unite, a community Facebook group, which chatted away throughout the airing of the program.

"All the positivity and support from locals was so awesome and overwhelming," Lambert said. "People cheering me on in their living rooms and congratulating me. So many said that I made Simsbury proud. And it’s such an honor to represent this town which I love so much!"

"It was a whirlwind once-in-a-lifetime experience," she added. "It was just over in the blink of an eye, but so incredibly exciting and fun. I'm thankful for the opportunity to live out one of my lifetime dreams and to chit chat with Pat [Sajak] and spin the wheel. And as much as my competitive self was in it to win it and so badly wanted to take home that Bonus Round, I am thankful for my winnings and look forward to enjoying a trip to Hawaii next year for my husband’s 40th, all thanks to my new pals Pat and Vanna!"

Vusuals courtesy of TheWorldWhite via YouTube

To sign up for free Simsbury news alerts and more, click here.