‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Gets Engaged on Set After Solving ‘Will You Marry Me?’ Puzzle

Love is in the air on Wheel of Fortune! As the show celebrates its 50th anniversary, host Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White revealed the romantic proposal they helped facilitate for the boyfriend of contestant Rhea Mathew!

“We’re celebrating milestones in honor of our 50th anniversary and actually had one happen earlier in the week right here on the set,” Seacrest said in an up-close-and-personal look at the moment published via YouTube on Thursday.

“Robin, the boyfriend of former contestant Rhea, reached out for our help in asking her a big question,” White explained, revealing that with the help of announcer Jim Thornton, they “created a bit of a ruse, making Rhea think she was back to celebrate Wheel‘s 50th” after previously appearing on the game show in October 2023.

In what Rhea thought was her grand return, however, she ended up solving a puzzle reading, “Will You Marry Me?” It was then that her boyfriend Robin walked onto the set, shocking Rhea as he got down on one knee to ask, “Rhea Susan Mathew, will you marry me?” A speechless Rhea nodded to accept the romantic proposal, as Seacrest joked in the clip, “I think she was really surprised.”

“Yes, that was so heart-warming,” White gushed as Seacrest agreed, “Very sweet. I love that we can do that on this show.” White then teased, “You never know what’s going to happen around here.”

Rhea herself weighed in on the proposal on the Wheel of Fortune Instagram page, which posted the special moment with the caption, “Screaming, crying, losing our minds over this sweet Wheel proposal!” Rhea commented, “AHHH thank you thank you thank you for making this into a reality!!!” calling the proposal “beyond even my wildest of dreams!!”

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A post shared by Maggie Sajak (@maggiesajak)

Former Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak’s daughter, Maggie Sajak, also spoke with Rhea in a behind-the-scenes video that was recorded before the bride-to-be learned what was really going on. “Rhea [thinks] she’s here for puzzle redemption, but little does she know… she’s here to get engaged!” Sajak wrote on the video of her pre-proposal video with Rhea.

Asked who she had brought with her for the day, Rhea answered, “I actually brought someone very special with me today. I brought my boyfriend Robin, he’s one of my biggest supporters, so I’m really excited to share this magic with him.” In the caption of her video, Sajak wrote, “A proposal on set?! 2025 is off to a magical start!”