Evergreen Park Woman Wins $59,425 on 'Wheel of Fortune'

Caption: Kristen Bonner’s official Wheel of Fortune contestant photo. 2) Kristen chitchats with Wheel host Pat Sajak before solving the last puzzle.

Kristen Bonner, who realized her childhood dream by appearing on ”Wheel of Fortune,” was the big winner Tuesday’s show.

The Evergreen Park resident won $59,425 in cash and prizes, including a 2015 Nissan Xterra. Bonner solved the winning puzzle, “World Wide Phenomenon.”

Bonner applied online to be a contestant on the popular game show that is based on the game “Hangman.” She was called for an audition at the Palmer House last October.

“They look for energetic people who are having a good time and cheering on the other contestants,” Bonner said. “You also have to be good at solving puzzles.”

The contestant-wannabes played a few rounds and then had to solve a word puzzles on paper. Bonner managed to make the first cut and move on to round two of the auditions.

“They dismissed some of us and then started calling names for the second round,” she said. “I was the third to last name that was called. I was bummed that I might not get on the show.”

The second round was faster paced, which also included playing with the actual wheel. Afterward, producers told those auditioning that they would hear in a few weeks if they were selected as contestants for the show.

Months passed by before Bonner received a call in late February saying she had been selected appear on the “Wheel.” She flew out to California (she had to pay her own airfare and lodging) a few weeks later for the taping on March 12.

“Pat [Sajak] is very friendly,” she said. “Vanna [White] came out during rehearsals in a jogging suit and with her hair pulled back. We didn’t even recognize her until she talked to us.”

Rehearsals consisted of getting used to spinning the wheel and camera people working with the contestants to get their “best side.”

“The wheel is really heavy and weighs over 2,000 pounds,” Bonner said. “They told us to grab the spoke with our ring and pinky fingers to spin the wheel.”

Despite spraining her pinky finger spinning the wheel during the show, Bonner went on the win the game by solving the last puzzle: “world wide phenomenon.”

The taping wrapped up around 6 p.m. and Bonner went out to dinner with her best friend and sister. She turned the weekend into a vacation and toured Universal Studios and drove around Beverly Hills looking for celebrities’ homes.

Bonner is a court reporter in Cook County juvenile court system. She plans to use her winnings to put a down payment on her dream house.

“I’m so sad it’s over,” she said. “I wish I could do it all over again.”