Neil Horne, a chess champion from Gugulethu, made local television history on his 52nd birthday on Monday by becoming the first contestant to win more than R100 000 on Wheel of Fortune South Africa.
In the legendary game show, which has been airing in the US since 1975 and came to our shores on 8 April 2024, three contestants spin a giant carnival wheel and solve word puzzles to win cash or fabulous prizes.
Besides a kwaai red Suzuki Grand Vitara and other mystery prizes, the highest amount of cash up for grabs in Wheel of Fortune SA’s bonus round, is R100 000.
In addition to the top cash prize, Neil also pocketed R2 600 earlier in the game, bringing his total winnings to R102 600.
While Neil contained his emotions with a straight face, host Rorisang Thandekiso jumped with joy, commenting that she seemed more excited than him for his big win.
Playing against Ruben Smith, a high school Computer and Business teacher from Pretoria, and the effervescent Tshiamo Tshabalala, a Political Science graduate from Brits, it was a slow and disappointing start for Neil, who is the reigning Bellville chess champ.
Ruben won the first “Toss-up”, where fast fingers counted. The category was “Quotes from movies”, and after the show, Neil confessed that he was bummed about Ruben solving the puzzle first and said: “The answer was ‘May the force be with you’. I thought to myself, ‘Ruben was probably not even born when the first Star Wars movie came out’!”
In the bonus round, Neil had to spin the wheel to land on one of 24 envelopes. From the three categories presented to him, he picked “Around the house” and nailed the puzzle.
The mystery prize inside the envelope turned out to be the whopping R100 000!
Wheel of Fortune South Africa airs on S3 Mondays to Fridays at 19:30.
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