Lora S.

I had my audition in June and was told “if you don’t hear back from us in a couple of months, go ahead and assume you weren’t chosen.” So, a couple of months go by and I never heard back from anyone. I went on just excited to have been given the opportunity to audition. I have a Spin ID and get emails from Wheel of Fortune regularly. Of course I get spam emails as well, so when I got a call from Alex, whom I auditioned with, 3 months later asking if I got my email from over a week earlier and making sure I wasn’t interested in being on the show, I was so surprised!

I had deleted the email without even opening it because it wasn’t from an email address I recognized!! I immediately text my husband asking what he was doing on the recording date and text him, “Feel like flying out to LA for a long weekend?!” Being from small town Arkansas, this was not a common opportunity! I immediately downloaded the Wheel of Fortune app and started practicing. I have to say, it really did help put the puzzle categories into perspective. For example, people, person, and proper names are all different categories! It was great practice. I also looked up episodes with the same theme of my episode from previous years to see if I should expect theme related puzzles.

We had a blast recording. We were told to show up with hair and makeup done, but it sure made me feel good when the professional makeup artist told me I had done a good job. She added some contour and extra coats of lip gloss. I was actually surprised by the size of the Wheel. It looks so big on TV. It wasn’t nearly as big as I expected, but it was heavy. Being able to spin that wheel was so surreal! I had a blast until I hit Bankrupt right before I planned to solve the prize puzzle! 😭😩

I still managed to win enough to pay for mine and my husband’s trip to LA. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience! I can’t wait for my air date!! My friends are throwing a watch party so we can all watch my TV debut together! Maybe I won’t embarrass myself, and will put small town Magnolia, Arkansas on the map for all Wheel of Fortune viewers! And make sure you have your Wheel Spin ID handy, because I could be YOUR Secret Santa!!