Kathleen W.

 

Being selected as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune was simply the most incredible thing that ever happened to me!! My husband Art has been after me for years to try out. I have been watching since my first daughter was born in the same year Vanna and Pat started in 1983. When we found out this year that Pat would be soon retiring, he REALLY kept pushing me and dared me to try out. So, this past June I finally put together a video late one night and sent it in on the website so he would stop asking me... (never thinking for one minute I would hear anything😁 LOL). Literally the next day I heard from Wheel of Fortune staff! and -- after successfully navigating the interviews and auditions -- ONE MONTH LATER I got the email congratulating me on being picked!

I have never been so excited in my life, and it all happened so fast... and I had to be in Los Angeles 3 days later to tape the show!! There was NO time to be nervous or overthink it all... my husband and I bought our tickets, booked the hotel and next thing we knew we were landing in LAX!

I honestly can say after watching Wheel for 40 years and understanding how the game works and what to expect.... that definitely helped, and then, when you arrive at the studio the adrenaline and excitement just kicks in! But having said all that - there is SO MUCH GOING ON! and everything you think you mastered about the game when watching from home goes right out the window lol. The Wheel of Fortune staff are absolutely AMAZING and they were just incredible to all of us... and the 20 other people I met that day are now my new WOF friends for life! Everyone was so nice, so excited and so supportive of each other... they made that day one I will never forget.

We all helped each other throughout each taping that day, and we all learned that the show is a lot more challenging when the cameras are on you, and you have to pay attention to everything going on around you while cheering each other on and keeping the game MOVING at all times!! (We all learned too how heavy the wheel is and how big the actual Puzzleboard is in real life!) Wheel of Fortune is as much about luck as it is skill…. I was lucky to have control of the Wheel for as long as I did when I got my big cash win and trip. It was all like a dream when I realized I was going to solve the puzzle, (although my shaky voice gave my husband and the audience their doubts that I would get it right LOL).

While we all had little misses or wrong letters called here or there (believe me it is NOT HARD TO DO when you are so nervous!), we ALL agreed at the end of the day that it was a once in a lifetime experience. I am really proud of all of us for being selected, for being positive and excited and mostly for performing so well under pressure!! Wheel of Fortune has been a huge part of my family's life all these years and being selected was such an honor.... THANK YOU!! to Pat, Vanna and everyone at Wheel of Fortune for making this a day I will never forget (and will brag about forever!)