West Hempstead's Gabriel Berkowitz, who won $86,000 on 'Wheel of Fortune,' also lost 200 pounds

Gabriel Berkowitz's road to "Wheel of Fortune" began five years and 200 pounds ago, but it was clearly worth the wait.

The West Hempstead native, who spun his way to $86,560 in cash and prizes on Tuesday's show, submitted his video audition in 2020, then waited three years before he was contacted to try out via Zoom. "In my Zoom audition, I did not let a single person answer a puzzle," Berkowitz, 27, an account executive at a Manhattan ad agency, told Newsday in a phone interview. "When I didn't hear back for a full year, to cope, I told myself, 'I guess I was too good.' "

Not only did he finally hear from the show, but he also proved to be a standout both for his wardrobe (his mom, Hillary Berkowitz, suggested the yellow and cream animal print jacket he wore) and his game-playing prowess. He won a $14,500 trip to Baja California, Mexico, after guessing the puzzle "Perfect for Whale Watching" with just seven letters showing. The solve surprised host Ryan Seacrest, who jokingly donned Gabriel Berkowitz's glasses to see if they had special powers. The contestant also won a $41,060 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF in the bonus round, a moment he shared with his brother, Jake, and his friend, Grace, who were at the taping.

Though Berkowitz moved to Harlem two months ago, he's still a Long Island guy and celebrated his win with a viewing party with friends at Prost Grill & Garten in Garden City Tuesday night. At work Wednesday morning, he was asked to wear the yellow jacket for a second watch party. "Some of my co-workers had already seen it, but they said, 'We’ll book a conference room and watch it again and you can do commentary,' " he said. "I will do as many viewing parties as people want."

While Berkowitz had a big win on "Wheel," he's equally proud of his big loss of more than 200 pounds since 2021. "I was not a very active person at all," he said. "I’m a very regimented person, and once I got it in my head to lose the weight, I became very particular about what I ate, but I would say the exercise is what really did it. It was almost entirely from running." On the show, Berkowitz said he's training for his first marathon next year.

Another of his passions is his collection of original Broadway cast recordings, especially flops. A prize of his collection is the album for "The Grass Harp," based on Tennessee Williams' novella. The two he'd love to get his hands on are "Lolita, My Love," based on the novel "Lolita," and the notoriously famous flop "Carrie," which closed after five performances in 1988.

No doubt, he would spend some of his $30,000 cash winnings on those if they should turn up. Though he's still contemplating on what else he might do with the money, two ideas come to mind. "First, the thought of going on a road trip cross country in the car would be lovely, he said.

As for the second: "I don't know that I have enough to invest in theater and it's not a safe bet," he said, "but it's fulfilling for the soul."