PEOPLE

Rossford contestant wins big on 'Millionaire'

Tracey Launder of Rossford reacts with host Cedric 'The Entertainer' after winning $100,000 on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire.'

Who Wants to be a Millionaire contestant Tracey Launder aspired to win big on the game show.

That she did.

On Tuesday’s episode, the 53-year-old unemployed grandmother from Rossford walked away with $100,000 after successfully answering the following question:

“Calling herself the ‘foremost American rumpologist,’ which Hollywood Mother reads the folds and dimples of peoples' buttocks to predict their future?”

A: Sharon Rae Costner

B: Julia DeVito

C: Jacqueline Stallone

D: Rose Pacino

Launder correctly guessed the answer to be “C.”

“When I saw that question I wasn’t sure if I was going for it,” she said. “Then I started thinking things through. You know this, you know this and finally I just did it.

“Somewhere I think I must have read this. I read voraciously; I’d read a cereal box if it was the only thing available. I must have somewhere along the way seen that. When the question come up right away, I focused on that answer, so it had to be it.”

The next question, then worth $250,000, proved to be more of a challenge.

“After a 1958 mid-air collision, an Air Force bomber was forced to drop a still-missing 7,600-pound nuclear bomb somewhere off the coast of what state?”

A: Georgia

B: California

C: Texas

D: Maine

The answer was “A.” Launder, unsure of the correct response and out of lifelines, opted to walk away with her winnings instead of risking three-fourths of the $100,000 prize money on a guess. She has no regrets.

“I just didn’t know,” she said. “I knew I’d gone as far as I’m going. The answer I was even sort of leaning toward was wrong.”

Previously employed at a doctor’s office, Launder has been out of work for three years and lives with her parents. She said her winnings will help her move into her own apartment and significantly bolster her retirement savings. Launder also plans to take her grandchildren to Disney World.

As for buying a home and a new car, those big purchases are on hold for now.

“I’m a pretty simple person,” she said.

Launder auditioned for the syndicated game show this summer in Detroit during a contestant search.

Now hosted by Cedric “The Entertainer,” Who Wants to be a Millionaire airs locally at 3 and 3:30 p.m on WNWO-TV, Channel 24.

— KIRK BAIRD