A Long Island lunch lady served up a big-money win on “Wheel of Fortune” that left her lapping up some $65,000 in prizes, including a brand new Toyota truck, a week-long tropical vacation and a year’s supply of sweet treats.
Single mom Katie McCann emerged as the winner of Tuesday night’s fittingly food-themed episode called “Living the Sweet Life” — and she credits her career as St. James Elementary School cafeteria’s lead service worker for giving her an edge.
“It certainly gave me the upper hand,” McCann told The Post while smiling ear to ear.
McCann, 37, nailed an impressive six puzzles with answers like “one smart cookie” and “pour some sugar on me” to earn a cool $65,253 in prizes and cash.
She won a 2025 Toyota Tacoma SR5, a week-long trip to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a year’s supply of sweets from Dylan’s Candy Bar, and — the cherry on top — $13,200 in cash.
“You can see my face that I’m just in shock every single time I win anything. Like Ryan Seacrest said, I don’t have a poker face at all,” added the champ, who “blacked out” and barely remembers any of the taping and shouting out her correct answers.
One thing does stick out, though, something that McCann called the most challenging part of it all — physically spinning the wheel.
“I’m a little lady — they had to push me up really high behind the podium to reach over, and that wheel is heavy,” said McCann, who moved to Hauppauge from Queens four years ago.
Full circle moment
McCann has been a longtime lover of the primetime game show since her own elementary school days and even credits “Wheel of Fortune” for “helping me to become a better speller.”
Fate ran its course in 2023 when McCann, a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan, saw a commercial to try out for her favorite play-at-home pastime.
Network executives loved her bubbly energy and quickly picked McCann for an episode, but she couldn’t get out to Los Angeles at the time.
“I had to turn it down, and then they said, ‘We really wish you could make it’ and put me in a pool for contestants they really wanted to bring on,” said McCann.
When the brass called back last spring, she cleared her calendar this time around.
“I was like, ‘Absolutely, I’ll be there.’ I couldn’t say no twice.”
Keeping the spoils of victory tight-lipped for the months leading up to her episode’s airing was another challenge for McCann, who loves her job — she has no plans for a career change now — and enjoys conversing with her little customers.
After finally going public, the school exploded with support, and kids even made her congratulatory drawings hanging behind her workstation.
“They’ve been so adorable, even the ones on the shyer side have been coming up to me,” said McCann.
“The students are all so very happy, which makes me feel great.”
Even her 3-year-old daughter, Brodie, keeps saying “mommy, you’re a movie star.”
McCann hasn’t had the chance to travel abroad much and will greatly appreciate the upcoming “sunshine on my face” — the winning phrase that earned her the trip.
She is also expecting the pickup truck to arrive just as her Jeep Wrangler lease is up.
“It’s all just been a dream come true,” McCann said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
