Rivera Takes $26,000 on Game Show

Linda Rivera of Vineland recently proved her skill by winning cash and prizes worth $26,000 on Wheel of Fortune. Her moment of fame, though, came along with becoming a viral sensation when she had a chance to walk away with a $70,000 prize but made an error many thought was avoidable.

Rivera was up against tarot card reader Rachael Simpson and nutritional coach and animal whisperer Joey Packo. Rivera is an art teacher of 26 years in the Vineland system.

In the October 8 show, Rivera upped her game in the Express Round, figuring out the Travel Tips puzzle for $8,500 cash and a trip to Amsterdam Manor in Aruba worth $9,376, putting her in front with $22,526.

All three contestants answered a puzzle correctly in the Triple Tossup, but it was Rivera who finished strong in Round 4, nailing the final puzzle and winning the episode with $26,026. Packo finished in second with $11,300, while Simpson ended up in last place with $3,000.

Heading into the Bonus Round, Rivera selected the “What Are You Doing” category and introduced host Ryan Seacrest to her husband, Mickey, who was cheering her on from the sidelines.

Faced with a three-word puzzle, Rivera picked the additional letters “M, B, C, and I” to go with the already given “R, S, T, L, N, and E.” The choice of vowel proved particularly helpful, giving her a puzzle board that read: “M I _ I N _ / T _ I N _ S / _ _.”

While the puzzle looked solvable, Rivera struggled to figure out the first word. She quickly realized the last two words were “things up,” but kept guessing the first word incorrectly, saying, “mining,” “missing,” and “messing.”

After the 10-second timer ran out, co-host Vanna White revealed the correct answer as “Mixing Things Up.”

Rivera dropped her head and made a mixing gesture with her hands as Seacrest opened the prize envelope to reveal she’d missed out on an extra $45,000. “You were right there,” Seacrest added.

Fans took to social media to share their reactions to Rivera’s “painful” miss, with one YouTube commenter writing, “This was one of those easy solves for me. I thought she would solve that puzzle in a heartbeat.”

“Her first guess, “mix something things up”… I can’t believe she couldn’t figure it out after that,” said another.

Another wrote, “It was painful watching her miss that.”

“That was solvable of course. But come on… she was just a little nervous with the lights!” said one commenter.

“Come on man. That puzzle was so easy,” wrote one fan, while another replied, “You get up there under that pressure and solve it. I promise it’s not nearly as easy as you think.”