- 5/18/2025
From reality show champions to game show legends, these contestants proved that winning big doesn't guarantee a happy ending. Watch as we explore the fascinating stories of TV winners who lost their fortunes through tax troubles, substance issues, and questionable financial decisions.
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00:00How are you feeling, man? Can you walk?
00:03Barely.
00:05I have to have help.
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at game show contestants who won the grand prize and then lost it all.
00:14Or at least most of it.
00:16At the end of the day, I have made mistakes in life, and some of the biggest mistakes I've made still led me to this point.
00:24Arlene Nicholas, Extreme Makeover, Home Edition.
00:27I mean, all of a sudden there was tons of people here, and the next day, silence, everything was, everyone was gone, and this big, beautiful house was here, and having to adjust to a whole new life, and without him.
00:43The Nicholas family didn't win money, but they did win a new home.
00:47Widowed single mother, Arlene Nicholas, thought her prayers had been answered when she won the chance to have her entire home made over.
00:54But these former participants of ABC's Extreme Makeover, Home Edition, learned that dreams can turn into nightmares fast.
01:01In less than a decade, the family was evicted because they could no longer afford the property.
01:06The sheriff could show up at any moment right now, and we would have to leave whatever's left behind.
01:12And unfortunately, I haven't even had a chance to go through everything.
01:15With all the additions and improvements the show made, the taxes went way up.
01:21So did the mortgage, and the family was unable to keep up once Nicholas had a bad car accident.
01:27We were finally, finally getting settled in.
01:29But after a couple of years, tragedy struck again.
01:32And I was in a car accident, which caused me to get behind.
01:35Jess Eva and Norm Hogan.
01:37The Block.
01:38This Australian reality show sees couples renovating properties on a budget.
01:43Teams earn money based on the profit they can turn on the properties.
01:46Jess and Norm are doing this for their kids.
01:48Ideally, we just want to set up their little family.
01:51This is just the biggest break that has happened to anyone in our family, like, ever.
01:56Season 14's Norm Hogan and Jess Eva won over $200,000 on the series.
02:02Within two years, it was all gone.
02:05They spent the money on gifts for friends, swimming pools, and real estate ventures that
02:09didn't pan out.
02:11They even took a major loss betting on a high-profile tennis match that didn't go their way.
02:16It's not too surprising.
02:18Their questionable spending habits were even a problem during their time on the show.
02:22So what we're going to do is work on who needs to be paid, because that's one thing
02:26that you really need to get into your head, that these people need to be paid.
02:30Eva and Hogan have since tried launching their own show, Budget Battlers.
02:35Challenging themselves to renovate on a sparse budget.
02:38This is totally unacceptable.
02:40It is, I agree.
02:40When it comes to budgeting, right?
02:42Yeah.
02:42You guys, today, today, need to go across the road to Suncorp.
02:47Yeah.
02:48Sarah will be there.
02:49She's going to help you in the block shop.
02:50Okay.
02:51And you're going to do your budget.
02:53Alright.
02:53And you're going to get it sorted.
02:54And it's going to happen today.
02:55Yes.
02:55Brian Hydeck.
02:57Survivor.
02:58After winning the fifth season of the smash hit CBS reality series, a used car salesman
03:03suddenly had a million dollars to his name.
03:05You had a hard day?
03:07How's that?
03:08Oh.
03:08Mm.
03:09Mm.
03:09Mm.
03:10Mm.
03:10In a CNN profile from a few months later after his win, Brian Hydeck had grand, sensible
03:22plans for his newfound wealth.
03:23By 2009, he had spent much of his winnings on a collection of expensive sports cars.
03:29Everybody's always wondering what Survivor winners spend their money on.
03:32Well, here's a good example.
03:33However, within a few years, Hydeck's off-screen antics made headlines.
03:39How are things on the home front?
03:40Well, you know, like in relationships, like in life, you have run into a few roadblocks
03:45or you hit a few speed bumps.
03:46You just got to deal with them and try to move forward.
03:48In 2006, he was hit with charges for battery and animal cruelty.
03:53His then-wife Charmaine says winning the show changed Hydeck in a major way.
03:57Myself and Jeff Probst going back and forth behind the scenes.
04:02His camera, when the camera wasn't rolling, he would say things like, Brian, when I ask
04:06a question, you know, I need you to answer it.
04:08I said, I'm not going to answer it how you want me to answer it.
04:11And then one thing led to another, then it was F you and F you.
04:13So that did happen.
04:15Judd Fabio Berza, Survivor.
04:17He was the youngest winner in the show's history.
04:20Judd Berza, winner of Survivor Nicaragua, a model who was nicknamed Fabio for his good
04:26looks, was an unlikely winner.
04:28How is it suddenly now having your name be Fabio?
04:30Oh, dude, everybody asked me, oh, people are like, are you going to keep it?
04:34Whatever, I was joking around.
04:35I was like, yeah, I might change it to my second middle name or something or like legally.
04:39I don't know.
04:39Yeah, I still could be called Fabio.
04:41It's cool.
04:41But his post-show troubles began right away.
04:45Only a month after winning the show, Berza was arrested for a DUI and probation violations
04:50and held for a hefty $37,000 bail.
04:54And that's something I think I'll be good at is kind of acknowledging what type of person
04:58I'm talking to and how exactly to get through to them and get them on my side.
05:02He reportedly left jail in style.
05:04His friends picked him up in a white limo.
05:07He later told fellow Survivor player Parvati Shallow that he had his fair share of dumb financial
05:12decisions.
05:13But he also bought his father a farm and a condo for himself.
05:17I was very aware of how other people were perceiving me.
05:20And what they, and I, you know, and yeah, I was left out in the dark a lot.
05:25But I also knew that I wasn't on the chopping block necessarily most of the time.
05:29Richard Hatch, Survivor.
05:31The very first winner of the show was notorious for his arrogance, his strategy, and his nudity.
05:37However, Survivor's first millionaire also became notorious for another reason.
05:43And he's convicted for tax evasion and perjury.
05:46Hatch's new reality is pretty grim.
05:48He faces a maximum of 13 years behind bars.
05:53In 2006, Richard Hatch was convicted of tax evasion related to his grand prize and other
05:58earnings related to his time on the show.
06:01Hatch blamed CBS.
06:02I feel you're being punished for speaking your mind.
06:05Oh, clearly.
06:05He has even maintained that payment of taxes was actually hush money for his keeping quiet
06:11about producer interference on the show.
06:13He served over four years in prison.
06:16I never attempted to evade taxes, which is what I was convicted of.
06:20And I've never not paid or not filed any tax returns my entire life.
06:26This is the nightmare people think it might be a make up, made up.
06:31Wouldn't happen to you.
06:32It happened to me.
06:33The associated tax fines alone are reported to be over three times the amount he won as
06:38the sole survivor.
06:39What would you have wanted to do with the $200,000?
06:43Well, so I never anymore talk ever about money.
06:46What I would, wouldn't do.
06:48What I will do.
06:48What I am doing.
06:49Forget it.
06:50He was called the real-life slumdog millionaire.
06:56In 2011, Sushil Kumar's historic win on Khan Banega Karapati, the Indian version of Who
07:02Wants to Be a Millionaire, was a first for the series.
07:05This is the riveting rags-to-riches story of Sushil Kumar, an IT worker on a salary of just
07:12£75 a month who won the top prize on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
07:18No one had ever won its top prize in over 10 years of airing, but Kumar's fortunes were
07:24short-lived.
07:25After paying off some debts, buying a plot of land for a huge house, and batting away
07:30requests from viewers to send them some of his winnings, Kumar was miserable.
07:34His marriage ended, he developed a substance use disorder, and he was broke.
07:39Although his life has gotten better since, his winnings were quickly depleted.
07:44The lifelines must only be used at a time when you genuinely run out of options.
07:49Jackson Michie, Big Brother.
07:51In 2019, after winning the controversial 21st season of the reality franchise, this winner
07:57had half a million dollars to show for it.
07:59Has it hit you yet?
08:00Have you processed that you are the winner of Big Brother 21?
08:03It hasn't, and clearly my reaction on stage shows that it hasn't.
08:06There's a lot of mixed emotions, and the slime from day one on my move-in shirt shows that
08:11it hasn't hit me.
08:12But, you know, it's what I came here to do.
08:14I had a job to do, and I saw it through to the end, and I walked out with a confetti I
08:18always wanted.
08:19In 2025, Jackson Michie appeared on Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves' podcast and described
08:25how he lost it all.
08:26Having just won, you know, $510,000 and having a little bit of popularity in Los Angeles, it
08:35was a dangerous combination for me.
08:37His hard time began way before the show and included substance use disorder, but winning
08:42the grand prize only exacerbated these pre-existing issues.
08:46You forget you're on camera really quick.
08:50You really do.
08:51Like, it takes maybe an hour, you know?
08:53Yeah.
08:54But my mindset was like, you know, I'm never going to work again.
08:57I'm just going to, you know, make these disgusting paychecks off of Instagram deals for the rest
09:02of my life.
09:03Two years later, he had moved back in with his parents, was unemployed, and had spent
09:08the entire $500,000.
09:11He has since turned his life around, but the sudden wealth was certainly a learning experience.
09:16And I would just spend hours and hours just praying and repenting and crying and healing,
09:24isolated from the things of the world.
09:26So those mountains were a healing place for me to come to know the Lord.
09:31Todd Herzog, survivor.
09:33Six years after this flight attendant from Utah secured his million, he was on the stage
09:38of Dr. Phil.
09:39I'm sorry.
09:40I'm crying because I just can't believe this is happening.
09:45Todd Herzog had indulged in a pretty high-risk lifestyle after winning Survivor China.
09:51His family joined Phil McGraw on his program to stage an intervention, saying Herzog had
09:56blown through his entire earnings and was on a collision course with complete ruin.
10:02You don't have a little lot going, right?
10:04No.
10:05I mean, you don't have a career that you're pursuing.
10:08You don't have...
10:09I don't have anything except for a condo that I own.
10:12Anything that's working...
10:13That I would like to sell.
10:14For you.
10:14To be honest with you.
10:15Despite his multiple appearances on McGraw's program, Herzog has come out against Dr. Phil,
10:21alleging the producers enabled him to drink on the set to make his entrance more dramatic.
10:27Since then, Herzog has maintained his sobriety and still connects with the Survivor community.
10:32So as hard as it was to, like, say no to the booze, I was like, I want the other stuff more.
10:40And that's what really drove me into getting sober.
10:45Adam Jasinski, Big Brother
10:47There were a lot of controversies surrounding the special winter season of Big Brother.
10:53Winner Adam Jasinski was just one of several housemates who made headlines for inappropriate
10:59remarks they made in the house.
11:00You spiraled out of control, didn't you?
11:02Yep, out of control and it happens fast.
11:04You think you can manage your life sometimes and then one thing leads to another and you're
11:09lost in the wind and don't know where to go for help.
11:11Right.
11:12When he won the season, the prize money fueled his ongoing substance use disorder and helped
11:17fund an illegal venture that landed him in prison.
11:20A little over a year after the season ended, Jasinski was charged with drug trafficking and
11:26tax evasion.
11:26It hits home so hard because it was so tough for me, Warren.
11:31And the biggest pitfall is you feel like you're on an island.
11:34You feel like you're stranded and you're by yourself and you know something's not right
11:39and you don't know what to do.
11:41He went to prison and re-emerged a few years later as a substance use disorder recovery consultant
11:47who specializes in helping parents navigate their children's substance issues.
11:51I don't think a lot of parents actually really know this.
11:53They don't realize it or they lack of it except that I recommend reading my book when
11:57your kids are going to middle school.
11:58That's how serious it is.
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12:14Michael Larson, Press Your Luck
12:18This game show contestant is about to go down in TV history as the luckiest man in America.
12:25You may know about the cheating scandal that shattered game show records.
12:29Michael Larson hacked the Press Your Luck game board simply by recognizing and memorizing
12:34its patterns and using it to his advantage.
12:37It turns out it wasn't just luck after all.
12:39Michael Larson was gaming the game by doing his homework.
12:43He kept watching old episodes and figured out there was a definite pattern to all those
12:48flashing lights.
12:50But after taking home over $100,000 in his single historic appearance, Larson didn't
12:56have as much luck outside the show.
12:58He spent most of the money on gifts and financial schemes that didn't pay off.
13:03Most of it seems to have been lost to a burglary on his girlfriend's home.
13:07It seems like such an ironic fate for such a legendary winner.
13:10Larson later got into trouble with a shady financial deal and eventually died in 1999.
13:16Janie Danken was the other contestant on that memorable day.
13:20When Michael kept winning and winning, I thought it was a joke.
13:23I thought there's no way they're going to let him win this much money.
13:26She seemed to take pleasure in Larson's impossible winning streak.
13:30He broke the code.
13:31Did these TV winners make you second guess applying for a game show?
13:36Let us know in the comments.
13:37The right answer!
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