Lucky guess wins Fil-Am $45,000 on Wheel of Fortune

For a lucky guess, a Filipino-American is now $45,000 richer.

Emilbert DeLeon, a nursing assistant based in Daly City, California, won the grand prize on Wheel of Fortune last Wednesday (US time).

According to a Huffington Post report, DeLeon, during the final round, managed to bag the three-word grand prize question (“new baby buggy”) on two letters alone (N and E). [See YouTube video here.]

DeLeon's quickness was so impressive that host Pat Sajak jokingly frisked him.

In a series of Facebook posts in 2013, DeLeon detailed the long audition process he had to undertake just to make it to the televised event.

His audition process supposedly started out in August 18, 2013 when the Wheelmobile, a bus that roams the United States in search of contestants from the show, passed by Daly City for auditions. The Mathematics graduate from San Francisco State University had to go through all three auditions on the date to make it to the next round of auditions.

“Fast forward to October 24, I pretty much just skipped school for this chance. I mean, how often do you get a chance to be on a game show?” wrote DeLeon.

Two weeks after the second audition's grueling test and a mock run of the game, the nursing assistant got a letter announcing his selection for an episode of the show.

In his letters, DeLeon thanked his family and friends, especially his mother. He also admitted to being a fan of the show, and lamented his inability to join it when the Wheelmobile rolled into town nearly a decade ago. — Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA