Ryan Seacrest scolded Derek Hough for wild ‘Wheel of Fortune’ antics

Ryan Seacrest says he had to lay down the law in a recent episode of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune

The game show host recently recalled jumping in to stop contestant Derek Hough from messing with the titular wheel while the cameras went dark for ads.

“In the commercial break, [Hough] was jumping on the center of the wheel and having Bruno [Tonioli] spin it, much like the top of a cake ornament,” Seacrest told USA Today. “We did say, ‘Please don’t do that. That would break it, and there’s only one of those wheels. If that breaks, we have a real problem.'”

In the episode, Hough could be seen celebrating correct answers by leaping atop the podium that displays the players’ scores, which is perfectly fine with the show. But Seacrest said the Wheel team had to prevent Hough — who is the brother of the host’s ex, Julianne Hough — from going any further.

“We had to sort of say, ‘Stick to the ledge,'” Seacrest remembered. He added that the Celebrity Wheel of Fortune guests can be “very physical, and that makes for fun.”

In the Sept. 26 premiere of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Hough faced off against Tonioli, who serves as a judge on Dancing With the Stars with the Extra host, and against Johnson-Chmerkovskiy, who won the most recent season of the dancing reality show.

Hough ultimately emerged victorious, earning $63,350 for Feeding America despite missing the final bonus round.

Elsewhere in the interview, Seacrest explained how his experience building the tension on American Idol has influenced his timing for Wheel reveals.

“I’m used to saying, ‘The winner is… Kelly Clarkson!'” the host said. “[With Wheel,] any time there’s a little bit of drama building up the stakes, that makes it fun.”

Seacrest also thinks it was “pretty cool” to witness Christina Derevjanik become the biggest winner in the game show’s history last month when she earned $1,035,155.

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“I want to give away millions of dollars of this company,” the host said, noting that he thought “somebody in some office” would be disappointed to give away such a significant chunk of change.

“I thought that might be the case. But it’s not, because it’s such a rare thing,” says Seacrest. “When it happens, it happens, and the good news is they have to pay. Those are the rules.”

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.