Ope, I'm just gonna solve this puzzle right here. That's basically what happened as a Northern Minnesota couple made an appearance on Wheel of Fortune earlier this month.

Chris and Ashley Walker of Grand Rapids, Minnesota were on Wheel of Fortune during "Sweethearts Week" last week, scoring a big win in the most 'Minnesota' way ever!

Chris and Ashley, who also attended St. Cloud State University, recently celebrated their 10th anniversary and got to mark Valentine's Day week with a big win on one of their favorite game shows.

In an interview with the St. Cloud State University publication "St. Cloud State Today", Ashley and Chris explained that watching Wheel of Fortune is a tradition for them. Ashley told the publication that she grew up watching the game show with her family, and that tradition continues now with her, Chris, and their daughters.

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The Walkers both studied mass Communications at St. Cloud State, where they met each other. They've since moved to Grand Rapids where they raise their two daughters and have a dog.

During their appearance on the show, which aired on February 12, the couple was able to advance into the bonus round after collecting $15,900 in the regular rounds of the show.

With the category "What are you doing?" and half of the letters in the puzzle revealed after the free RSTL and E and their guessed DFP and O, they quickly got the answer based on where they're from.

Wheel Of Fortune on YouTube
Wheel Of Fortune on YouTube
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Pat Sajak commented they looked pretty confident, and that's because as Chris commented "Well, we're from Minnesota" and he continued "Bundling up!" as the answer to the puzzle, which was correct!

Needing only a fraction of the 10 seconds given to solve the clue, the Walkers won a big prize to add on to their winnings for the day.

Wheel Of Fortune on YouTube
Wheel Of Fortune on YouTube
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Add that $50,000 to the $15,900 they won earlier in the game, and the Walkers got to go home with $65,900 in winnings (before taxes). Awesome work! You can watch them solve the big puzzle here:

The couple spoke with Maggie Sajak after the show, offering thoughts on their experience.

Their path to a big Valentine's Day week win started in March of 2023, when Chris was invited to participate in a virtual competition to get onto the show after applying to audition. They explained to St Cloud State Today that in October of 2023, Chris got an additional invitation for another audition, which included Ashley this time, being it was for the show's Sweethearts Week.

After a virtual audition in November, they were notified in December they would be part of the show, which was filmed in January and aired last week.

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According to 2022 data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth

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