2. One of us will be auditioning for Wheel of Fortune.
...that was actually true! In fact, I was even selected after the audition process and got the chance to fly out to L.A. and be on the show last week! What.a.surreal.experience. One I could never forget. Let me tell you a bit about it...
The Audition
I will go on the nerd record here, and say that being on Wheel of Fortune has been a lifelong (26 year) dream of mine. I dreamed about Wheel of Fortune like most young girls dreamed about their wedding day. Since the original Nintendo, I became fascinated by the game, and how I could put letters together and create words. It also gave me a leg up when kids started playing Hangman at school. And I'm there all like, "Is this a prize puzzle?!" Anyway...
I applied online about once a year and even followed the Wheelmobile to Atlantic City, NJ about two years ago. At the Wheelmobile events, there are over 1,000 people and you have to just hope, pray, and cross your fingers and toes that your name will be called. Long story short, that was not my time to shine. Then, in early June I received an e-mail to attend an invite-only audition in New York City. Naturally, I freaked out with excitement, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. For all I knew there would be 1,000 people there again. Until there wasn't. There were only FIFTY. I could see my chances of actually being chosen as a contestant getting stronger and stronger.
The audition process was pretty simple. There was a large electronic puzzle board hanging in the front of the ballroom of the Marriot Hotel and when your name was called you had to jump up and quickly guess a letter. If you wanted, you could even solve. My competitiveness and excitement were rapidly rising until I finally was chosen. I guessed a letter, and solved-- PACIFIC ISLAND PARADISE. I was nearly drenched in my own sweat at this point. A perfect concoction of joy and nervousness was mixing up and literally coming out of my pores.
Next, there was a 5 minute paper quiz of unfinished puzzles to complete. After they were graded, 25 people were asked to leave and 25 people had the opportunity to stay and play some more. Guess who got to stay?! After the audition we were told that if we were chosen for the contestant pool we would receive a letter in two weeks.
On the FOURTEENTH DAY I received a letter in the mailbox with the Wheel of Fortune logo on it from Culver City ,California. You could only imagine what I looked like...
TAPING DAY!
Once you are chosen to be in the contestant pool, you could be on the list for up to 18 months. Lucky for me, I got my taping date one week after the initial letter. I was so relieved I did not have to wait in anticipation for over a year. I had to be in LA on July 16th to tape for Teacher's Week which was just the icing on top of the cake. This was the version of the game I truly did want to play, although I wouldn't have been picky.
When I tell you this is a once-in-a-lifetime, completely surreal experience, I truly mean it. It was the most exhilarating 22 minutes of my life, and entirely different from playing at home. They had told us that repeatedly since the early audition process, but I didn't truly believe it until I was there. You have to pay attention to so many things (unused letter board, scoreboard, timer, wheel, etc.) that you almost forget the purpose is to solve puzzles. I was also in the red spot directly next to Pat Sajak which added some gruesome pressure--but lots of camera time ;) .
The producers select the three people who will be playing together. There are 6 tapings in a day. Each group of three randomly selects a ball with your taping number on it--we were 4, which happened to be my lucky number AND the number of the overhead bin where I stored my carry-on luggage. I was golden. Then, each contestant randomly chooses another numbered dice which determines your spot in the game (red, yellow, or blue). Then, hours are dedicated to practice spinning, filming promos for your local news stations, makeup, going over rules, and more! We even got to meet Vanna behind the scenes--what a beauty! Let me tell you, the hours spent to practice spinning were without a doubt NECESSARY. My arms aren't made out of spaghetti or anything, but this thing was HEAVY. Like 2,400 pounds heavy. No simple flick-of-the-wrist was getting this wheel to spin.
The game FLEW by, but was absolutely incredible. One of the most unexpected surprises was how quickly all 18 of us contestants became instant friends. Since we spent so many hours together before taping, we all got to know each other so quickly. Being that we were taping for Teacher's Week, we were also all educators from all over the country sharing a love for our jobs, and also a love for this silly game we had all been playing since we were children. Also, as everyone knows, teachers are the best Wheel players. We all knew we were going to do fantastic, and I could not get over the outpouring of love and cheer we all had for each other. Every single person genuinely wanted everyone to do well. We got to sit in the audience and cheer on all of our new friends before it was our turn, which doubled as last minute practice.
While I'm in a sort of social media confidentiality agreement and can't spill the beans about how I did, I can tell you that my show will air on Thursday, September 17th during Teacher's Week. Every game from Monday-Friday is going to be fantastic and worth watching so make sure you tune in! I was even able to give a little shout out to my Robert Gordon School of Roselle Park, NJ and a little KNJ/TeachersPayTeachers semi-shout-out (we couldn't use business names).
I highly suggested applying and going through the audition process one day. It was an unbelievable experience and WHEEL LOVES TEACHERS!
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| My beautiful momma and I having celebratory dinner and vino. (I had a nametag and everything!) |
