A version of this article originally appeared on EW.com.
Sometimes it pays to go viral. While Kevin Haas’ embarrassing moment on Wheel of Fortune didn’t earn him the recognition he probably wanted, it did land him an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he redeemed himself and won $5,000 in the process.
Haas went viral when he appeared on Wheel of Fortune in March and failed to guess the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire with just one missing letter. “I chose one of the two options in the English dictionary and I chose ‘naked,’” he told Ellen DeGeneres.
To win back some cred, Haas played Catapult of Fortune. “So here’s what’s gonna happen: I’m gonna read a statement and you fill in the blank, and it’s really, really simple,” the talk show host explained. “And if you get it right, you’ll probably win a prize, and if not, something will be catapulted at you, okay?”
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The three phrases were “The Phantom of the…,” the British series “Downton…,” and the 13th vice president of the United States, “William…” While Haas guessed the first two correctly, he failed the final round. But it all worked out in his favor: A stage hand revealed the catapult bucket was filled with $5,000 from Shutterfly.
“See, it pays to lose on my show,” DeGeneres said.
Ellen airs weekdays at 3 p.m. (check local listings).