A Prince William County father and son won over $1.6 million on NBC’s “The Wall,” a game show that premiered its sixth season Monday.
Steven Hardeman, 56, and his son Seth, 20, both of Triangle, taped the episode in June 2024.
In a Monday night text message exchange with InsideNoVa, the Hardemans shared their delight.
“I was ecstatic,” Steven Hardeman said. “I think if I could have jumped 1,000 feet in the air, I would’ve jumped 1,000 feet in the air. When they talk about being on cloud nine, I’m still on cloud nine. To me it is still unbelievable. It seems surreal.”
“Absolute shock,” Seth Hardeman said of his initial reaction. “Being in isolation, you have no idea what is going on in front of the wall, and hearing my dad follow up such a powerful message to me with news of such an amazing win caught me off guard. I had always kept a positive mindset going into the show, and I think my reaction captures that.”
In 2002, Steven Hardeman was one of 13 recipients of the Declaration of Valor Award from then-Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, recognizing Hardeman’s efforts as an off-duty police officer who helped evacuate people from the Pentagon on 9/11.
Seth Hardeman is a senior majoring in history at George Mason University.
Currently a school security officer at Triangle Elementary, Steven Hardeman previously held the same position at Swans Creek Elementary in Dumfries.
Seth Hardeman was 18 during the episode’s taping. He now works as a substitute teacher three days a week at Triangle Elementary alongside his father and in tandem with his studies at George Mason.
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Steven Hardeman said he is “savoring the moment and the chance for financial freedom” stemming from the winnings. Seth Hardeman added he relishes “the security it offers.”
“To bring $1.6 million back to Prince William County feels like I can come and make an impactful impression for good in this county and those around me,” the elder Hardeman added.
Seth Hardeman echoed that sentiment.
“I’m honored to show that good things happen in this world, and to showcase that to my hometown and all the people rooting for me is humbling,” he said.
Asked to describe their experience on “The Wall” in one word, Steven Hardeman called it a “blessing” that will help him “live a more purpose-driven life” — with Seth opting for the term “grateful.”
“Being the youngest game show contestant to win something of this magnitude brings a lot of opportunity,” Seth Hardeman said, “and I’m excited to see where this journey takes me.”
“The Wall” is “an action-packed game with more than $12 million on the line each night and up to $3 million on a single drop, as teammates work together to answer questions to build a huge cash prize,” according to NBCUniversal. “The rules are simple: Get a question correct and a green ball will fall down the four-story wall and add the value of the slot to the players’ winning total. Miss a question and an ominous red ball will fall and deduct the value from the team’s total. Contestants compete in pairs and must blindly trust their loved ones to make the right decisions during the game to accumulate their earnings.”
Steven Hardeman, right, and son Seth tape an episode of NBC’s “The Wall” in June 2024 — with the episode set to air nationally Jan. 5. (Courtesy Greg Gayne/NBC)
Roger Waters is responding after becoming mired in controversy after the Berlin stop on his This Is Not A Drill tour.
At one point in the show, the Pink Floyd alum donned a long SS-style leather overcoat adorned with a swastika-like symbol (actually crossed hammers), replete with a Nazi-style red armband, before being handed a prop machine gun and gleefully firing into the crowd.
Anyone familiar with the 1982 film “The Wall” — written by Waters, and based on Pink Floyd’s 1979 concept album of the same name — will recognize the iconography was directly lifted from the movie, in which an alienated rock star refashions himself as a Hitler-style fascist dictator; Waters has worn similar uniforms onstage when performing “The Wall” for several decades.
Photo by Adam Berry/Redferns via Getty Images
Nevertheless, given Waters’ frequent criticism of Israel, wearing a Nazi-style uniform onstage in Berlin was not a good look, leading to a firestorm of controversy.
As a result, German authorities have opened an investigation into the matter to determine whether Waters’ performance violated the country’s stringent anti-Nazi laws.
Wow, this is @rogerwaters imitating a Nazi, while at a concert in … Berlin. This is just unhinged Jew hatred and Holocaust distortion. The man is vile beyond words. pic.twitter.com/zn1EvudSXc
The investigation was launched because Nazi symbols, flags and uniforms are strictly prohibited in Germany, with a police spokesperson telling Reuters that Waters’ onstage uniform was alleged to be “deemed capable of violating the dignity of the victims, as well as approving, glorifying or justifying the violent and arbitrary rule of the Nazi regime in a way that disrupts public peace.”
Interestingly, Waters addressed the controversy before if even took place.
As People reported, prior to the start of the show Rogers appeared onstage to deliver a message. “The show will start in 10 minutes and a court in Frankfurt has ruled that I am not an antisemite… just to be clear, I condemn antisemitism unreservedly,” he said.
Waters’ remarks were in response to a decision last month by a Frankfurt court, determining the controversial sequence was allowed under the country’s artistic freedom of expression laws after protests from Jewish groups demanding the cancellation of Waters’ shows due to his reputations as “one of the most widely known antisemites in the world.”
Following the backlash, Waters responded with a lengthy statement via Twitter.
“My recent performance in Berlin has attracted bad faith attacks from those who want to smear and silence me because they disagree with my political views and moral principles,” Waters wrote.
“The elements of my performance that have been questioned are quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms. Attempts to portray those elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated. The depiction of an unhinged fascist demagogue has been a feature of my show’s since Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ in 1980,” he continued.
