Wendy Patrakas is a housewife from Walton, Ohio hoping to use the race's $32 million payout as a way to escape her abusive husband Richard. When her son Sammy was born, she asked the doctor not to call her husband, because he was busy in meetings. The doctor then questioned Wendy about her unusual bruising, asking her if she was in an abusive relationship, which Wendy denied. When it came time to leave the hospital, she was given a fruit basket, which contained a black cell phone calling for her to participate in the race.