Central Minnesota Native Shares Heartwarming Story Behind Big ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Win

Over the years, a lot of people have won big prizes while on the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune. Not all of those winners have a heartwarming story like this Minnesota woman does.

Last week, Minnesota native Delinda Blanck Rood made an appearance on Wheel of Fortune after trying to get onto the show for a few years.

Rood is originally from Brainerd, MN, but now lives in the Twin Cities suburb of Rosemount.

Her winning episode of the show, which aired last Tuesday (November 4), was recorded back in April of this year. She had to keep it a secret for months that not only did she win a grand total of $65,650 during her appearance, but there was also a touching story behind her bonus round victory.

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If you happened to see the episode (seen below), you may have caught that she gave a nod to her mother-in-law before solving the bonus round puzzle, which was "Warm Quilt". The correct answer won her an extra $45,000 to give her that $65,650 total that she won.

While it might have seemed cute that she shouted out her mother-in-law (heck, the title of the YouTube video from Wheel of Fortune seemed confused), there was a story to be told.

Bemidji PBS station Lakeland PBS's news program Lakeland News spoke with Rood about her appearance. In the interview, Rood revealed that she had applied several times over the course of three years to get on the show.

She nearly missed her chance to finally appear on the show when her mother-in-law dealt with a health scare. Despite the health scare, Rood was still able to make her appearance and ultimately win. Rood commented that, thanks to her mother-in-law being an avid quilter, it made solving the puzzle a pretty easy feat.

She even made a point to shout out her mother-in-law as she solved the puzzle and won the big prize! Rood told Lakeland News she plans to spend some of her winnings on a family vacation. Congrats!