A victory that almost smacks of a script written too well. In the December 31st episode of The Wheel of FortuneNicola experienced what we could define as the most suspicious stroke of luck on recent Italian television. At the Wonder Wheel, the final game that decides the contestant’s fate, he got the first two answers wrong. Then he got the third right. Nothing strange, except that the first two boxes contained just 5 thousand euros each, while the last one hid 200 thousand euros: the richest prize possible.
Two mistakes and a jackpot: the sequence that sparked social media
The dynamics of the victory is indeed a great coincidence. Nicola, a huge fan of the Wheel (“Since Mike’s time”, he says) finds himself in front of the Wonder Wheel with three envelopes to open. The first answer is wrong: inside, 5 thousand euros that he won’t win. The second one is wrong: another 5 thousand euros that escape him. He gets to the third and final chance, guesses the answer, opens the envelope and discovers that there, right there, there were 200 thousand euros. Gerry Scotti reveals the surprise like this:
I’ve been telling you for several months that the wheel is uncontrollable. That no author can write the emotions it gives. You saw that he suffered on the first and second, you saw that he came within a tenth of a second on the third. So he deserves two hundred thousand euros!
A narrative progression so perfect that it seems to have been studied carefully.
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Mediaset doesn’t stop: not even on New Year’s Eve
There is one fact that emerges clearly: The Wheel of Fortune didn’t stop even before New Year’s Eve. While Affari Tuoi on Rai1 chose to take a break by letting go of the traditional New Year’s Eve show with Marco Liorni, while Mediaset broadcast its game show regularly and then gave the line to its square, that of Bari, with Federica Panicucci. A signal that does not go unnoticed.
It is the declaration of a precise strategy for 2026: no respite, no step back in the ratings battle. Canale 5 wants to cover every evening, every appointment, with its game show without leaving empty spaces for the competition. If Affari Tuoi can afford to stop, The Wheel of Fortune cannot. Or rather, Mediaset doesn’t want to allow it.
