Pat Sajak Interrupted by Enthusiastic Contestant—'There's No Need for Me'

Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak found himself relegated to the sidelines during this past Friday's episode as he watched an enthusiastic contestant take control of the proceedings during his winning spree.

As the long-running game show's Teen Week came to a close that day, Ohio high school sophomore Ross Campbell proved to be a ball of energy as he solved a series of puzzles and proved victorious against his competitors.

In a clip shared on Wheel of Fortune's verified Twitter account, Campbell, 15, was seen landing on the $1,000 wedge with a mystery tag attached. He yelled and cheered as the letter B, which he guessed, was added to the word puzzle.

Presumably preparing to ask Campbell whether he would like to play the mystery wedge—where contestants can boost their winnings to $10,000 or lose everything if they stumble upon a bankrupt tag—Sajak started to say, "There you go. Well..."

"I like money! Wooh!" Campbell interrupted, seemingly unwilling to wait for the host to build up any suspense on the matter. He grabbed the wedge and held it aloft to reveal that his gamble had paid off with a five-figure boost.

"Yeah!" Campbell yelled as he jumped up and down and the audience applauded.

This time, Sajak failed to get a word in at all as Campbell yelled: "I'd like to solve!"

Shouting out the correct answer for the puzzle, the student said: "I before E except after C," cheering and applauding as the remaining letters were revealed.

The camera then cut to a speechless Sajak, who looked around the studio and at the camera in silence for several seconds.

"There's really no need for me at all," the TV personality quipped.

Seizing the moment to get back into presenter mode, Sajak pointed toward Campbell as he said: "You know what? You made someone at home very happy too because they're going to win $10,000..."

"Spin ID! Someone at home! Yeah!" Campbell shouted, again not giving the host a chance to deliver his usual polished lines.

As the clip came to an end, Sajak was seen playfully shaking his head in defeat.

A caption accompanying the video read: "This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen."

Campbell's impact on the show went beyond his enthusiasm, as he went on to win $30,450 in cash and prizes as well as a trip to Puerto Rico.

In an interview with Ohio's Dayton Daily News, Campbell said he applied online to compete on the show after seeing on the show's social media site that applications were open for teen contestants.

After auditioning on Zoom, he learned via email in late November 2022 that he had been selected as a contestant.

"It was about 9 o'clock at night and I was sitting on the couch when I got the email telling me that I was selected as a contestant, and I jumped up and down and was so happy because I have always been a fan of the show," Campbell recalled.

Taking three days off from school, he flew with his parents to Los Angeles to tape his episode in early December. The show is shot on Sony Pictures Studios' Culver City lot, and Campbell visited the Jeopardy! set before taping.

A golf enthusiast, Campbell told the Daily News that he plans to save the bulk of his winnings for college and to buy a new computer and hopefully a car.

"I am planning on going to college either at Wright State University or Miami University," he said. "I would like to double-major in journalism and Spanish since you never know what language might be needed when doing interviews. And I love being in front of the camera."