Heavy/Getty/ABC New Year's Eve Powerball winner Pamela Bradshaw, inset: Ryan Seacrest
The most talked-about moment of Ryan Seacrest‘s New Year’s Eve broadcast was not the countdown to 2024 in New York’s Times Square, but a segment minutes later when the first Powerball millionaire of the year collapsed on stage in front of the “American Idol” host — and then nearly fell on top of him.
Social media blew up after Pamela Bradshaw of Clinton, North Carolina — one of five potential winners who had lined up on a small indoor stage with Seacrest — learned she’d won the randomly drawn, million-dollar jackpot.
“Congratulations,” Seacrest yelled as confetti fell from the ceiling. “You’re a millionaire!”
Bradshaw, dressed in a navy and gold party dress, could be seen raising her hands to her face in shock and then collapsing on her back. After her daughter and Seacrest ran over and managed to pull her back up, Bradshaw screamed with excitement and lost her balance again, nearly falling on top of Seacrest as she tried to hug the famous host.
Here’s what you need to know:
Video of Powerball Winner Pamela Bradshaw with Ryan Seacrest
After Bradshaw steadied herself, she bear-hugged and cried with her daughter, Joanna Hinson. Seacrest then approached them to ask for a verbal reaction.
“Pamela…North Carolina…first time here in New York City, and you’re walking away in the new year a millionaire,” he said. “Powerball first millionaire of the year. Can you speak any sentences of excitement?”
“I thank God,” Bradshaw responded. “I’m so blessed.”
Video of Bradshaw’s win quickly went viral, as did reactions to the shocking moment, which left Seacrest looking momentarily shaken.
“I’m so happy for you,” Seacrest smiled, adding, “You promised your daughter a little of it. Maybe a little more than that?”
Bradshaw and Hinson appeared in a promotional video days before their trip. If she won the jackpot, she said she would put the money toward owning her first home.
After she bought a lottery ticket online, Bradshaw said, it was entered into a second drawing and she became a finalist in the New Year’s Eve event, winning a four-day, three-night trip to New York for two. After Hinson said she was looking forward to seeing the city during the holidays, Bradshaw predicted her own trip highlight would be the New Year’s Eve event.
“It’s the main event,” she said. “The drawing and the party on New Year’s Eve party with Ryan Seacrest. We’ll get to hang out with him!”
Social Media Explodes Over Powerball Winner’s Reaction
GettyRyan Seacrest speaks onstage at the Times Square New Year’s Eve 2024 Celebration on December 31, 2023, in New York City.
Social media was flooded with amusing reactions to Bradshaw’s win, which one person dubbed the “first wild TV moment of the year.”
Some admitted they might react the same way, including one person who tweeted, “Lmaooo ok but honestly this would probably also be me if I won a million dollars out of nowhere #powerballrockineve #rockineve.”
Others noted how Seacrest kept his cool during the chaotic segment.
“Well @RyanSeacrest doing the splits is my favorite part of this,” one person tweeted.
Someone else tweeted, “Damn. That lady almost killed Seacrest. lol”
“This #PowerBallRockinEve winner tackling Ryan Seacrest was worth staying up for,” another tweeted.
“Ryan Seacrest announcing the Powerball millionaire and then getting absolutely dogpiled by the sheer excitement of the winner is so hilarious to me for no reason,” someone else tweeted. “Like my man didn’t just look concerned, he looked FRIGHTENED.”
In reaction to seeing the video on Facebook, someone wrote, “Congrats to her! R u ok Ryan? That was some reaction! 
”
Multiple people also noted that, after hugging her daughter, Bradshaw seemed to tell her, “I peed myself.”
One person wrote on Facebook, “Did anyone else read her lips when she told her daughter that she peed herself?!?! 
I probably would have too!”