Ryan Seacrest Falls to the Ground During Interaction With ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant

Ryan Seacrest was swept off his feet on Wheel of Fortune — literally! One contestant’s happy celebration left the host falling to the floor.

The contestant named Daniel Thomas from San Marcos, California, was in the Bonus Round and decided to select the category for “Living Things.” By that time, he had already earned $31,950 as well as an Alaskan vacation.

His family stood on the stage as they watched him solve a puzzle that started with the letter G and ended with the letters E and S. “You have 10 seconds,” the TV personality told the contestant. “Good luck.”

Daniel correctly guessed the word Guppies. Once Ryan, 50, told him that the answer was correct, Daniel was so happy. He immediately went to hug Ryan while jumping up and down. He wrapped his arms around the American Idol host for a cheerful embrace. But what happened next was very unexpected.

Ryan went tumbling to the ground during the celebration. After a few seconds of Ryan on the floor, Daniel helped him up, uttering, “Oh my gosh.”

But Ryan took it like a champ, and assured the audience that he was OK. “I’m good, I’m good,” he repeated before the audience laughed at what transpired on the stage.

“Get over here,” he told Daniel through laughter while ushering him to another part of the stage.

Ryan then revealed that Daniel’s prize for answering the puzzle correctly was an additional $40,000. He went over to hug his family.

“Daniel, easy on our host but celebrate with $40,000,” the announcer hilariously said over the thundering applause.

The camera then panned to Ryan, who was still laughing after the shocking fall. Daniel then walked over to Ryan, with Ryan playfully swatting him away and running further across the stage. The audience laughed once more at the exchange.

Ryan revealed that Daniel had won a total of $71,950 and hugged him again while wishing him congratulations.

“Vanna [White], you’ll have to take over,” the entertainment mogul joked while crouching down and pretending to be in pain.

“How did you do that in the last second?” Ryan asked Daniel, to which he responded, “Push you over or solve the puzzle?”

With laughter, Ryan clarified, “Solve the puzzle.”

“I don’t know; I was looking up at the used letter board, and I saw P, and it just popped into my head,” Daniel said.

“You did great, congratulations,” Ryan told Daniel, to which he responded, “I’m so sorry.”

“No, don’t worry, I loved it!” Ryan assured Daniel with a grin.

Ryan also made light of the situation at the end of the episode. “I don’t know if you saw, but I think he was excited,” the entertainment mogul told Vanna, 67.

“You think?” she said, asking Ryan if he was OK after taking the tumble.

“Oh yeah, it’s great,” he assured her. “To all future contestants, please, if you win, pick me up, throw me over, tackle me, I’m totally fine with it.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Vanna said.

Ryan became the host of Wheel of Fortune in September 2024 after Pat Sajak left the show, and so far, he’s been doing a great job, falls and all!