Many game show fans are wondering what the newest Wheel of Fortune million dollar winner, Christina Derevjanik, will do with the top prize. In the WoF episode aired on Tuesday, September 30, the contestant won a record-breaking $1,035,155 by solving the final puzzle. Before winning the money, she joked that she would be quitting her job if she won the million dollars, in full view of her boss who was sitting in the audience, but did she follow through? Here’s how the $1 million Wheel of Fortune winner will be spending the money.
What will Wheel of Fortune winner Christina Derevjanik do with the million dollars?
Christina Derevjanik will be spending her Wheel of Fortune $1 million dollar prize on getting rid of her student loans and then investing in a home over the next several years.
In an interview with Good Morning America, the Connecticut woman shared her anxiety over having such a looming amount of student loan debt. “The first thing that I am spending that on is getting rid of all my student loans,” she said. “That is number-one priority, something that, you know, the last 15 years I’ve been out of college, I’ve been just like, ‘How am I ever going to pay this off?’ And now it’s just going to be such a relief.”
When pressed on whether she did turn in her two weeks’ notice, Derevjanik admitted that she actually didn’t. She explained that quitting her job if she won the million dollars was a “running joke” she had with her boss and friend Jen, who briefly appeared in the GMA studio when she was mentioned during the interview. “But yeah, I’ll be staying at work,” she clarified.
The contestant also shared that it’s been tough having to keep the secret that she had won the million dollars. Episodes of Wheel of Fortune are pre-taped, so she and her boss had to stay silent on her windfall for four months. During that time, they would have to give each other a knowing “side eye” at work about what really happened on the show.
This marks the first time anyone has won the $1 million jackpot during the Ryan Seacrest era of the show (a hosting gig that Andy Cohen wanted) and only the fifth time a contestant has claimed the grand prize, if we include Melissa Joan Hart’s win on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
