Mitch P.

When I got the email that I’ve been chosen to be on Wheel of Fortune, it felt surreal. I watch the show with my family every night and sent in a video audition in March because I knew my kids would get a huge kick to see me on the show. I never actually thought I’d be invited to be a contestant because so many people try out! I learned that anything is possible! When I sent out my audition video, I did it on a whim. I went out to my driveway, took a selfie video and talked for 45 seconds about why I’d be a great contestant. I didn’t think I’d hear back, but there I was competing on my favorite game show! It shows that it doesn’t hurt to send in a video because the only guarantee that you won’t make the show is if you never audition!

I practiced by watching many episodes, both on tv and reruns on Pluto. I also played the Wheel of Fortune app which allowed me to practice letter strategy. For instance, sometimes I practiced picking mostly consonants and sometimes I practiced picking vowels to see which way led to more correctly solved puzzles. Also, since I knew I was going on Teacher’s Week, I revisited past Wheel of Fortune Teacher Week episodes to get an idea of what kind of education themed puzzles were used. I also found playing Wordle every day helped because it helped me practice different letter combinations.

I knew the first puzzle but decided to spin one or two more times for more money and landed on bankrupt 🥲.  Also, for the prize puzzle, I thought the answer was “bundles and bundles of berries” but Nichole before me correctly solved “Bunches and bunches of Berries”. If it got to my turn, I would have been shocked when I gave the wrong answer! 😂😂😂

I’m inviting my whole family over to watch it when it airs! I’ll get to talk about my thought process throughout the episode. I’m curious to see if they solve any puzzles before I knew them. This whole experience has been absolutely amazing. Auditioning over Zoom was exciting and nerve racking! I’m so thrilled I brought my wife and children with me to California for the show’s filming. They had an absolute blast being in the studio audience and watching the filming of episodes. We also had a blast meeting Maggie Sajak and filming for social media.