Contestant Blogs

Matthew G. & Adam C.

POSTED 2-17

The day of the taping was certainly a day I will never forget. The night before, Adam, my mom, and his mom, spent the night at a hotel in LA, so we could be close to Sony Studios in the morning. We woke up at 4:30 am, and got to the studio at 6:00. Although I was exhausted, my excitement for the day completely exceeded the tiredness. First, the contestant coordinators got all of the teens and their parents together to go over paperwork. Once that was done with, we said goodbye to our parents, and then the fun part began. The coordinators taught us "proper" wheel spinning mechanics, and we got to see the whole set. Then we got our makeup done, and shot the intro for all the "Teen Best Friends" episodes. That was a lot of fun. We went back inside and the contestant coordinators reminded everyone of all the rules, quirks, and aspects of the game. By that time, we were just about ready to start filming. Adam and I were glad that in the random drawing we picked show #2, so we wouldn't have to wait around all day for the rest of the shows to film. The first show felt like it took forever to finish. Finally, it was our turn. When I stepped up on the stage I immediately saw my mom, my girlfriend, and Adam's parents. Adam and I were definitely more excited than nervous because we knew we were pretty good at the game. The problem is, sometimes no matter how skilled you are at the game, that pesky wheel can make the game impossible to win.

Once the game started, I still wasn't nervous. Even though I messed up trying to solve the first toss-up, Adam, the good teammate and friend that he is, backed me up and we got the $1,000. Then came the hardest part of the entire experience: talking about myself to Pat and the entire country. Adam is an actor, so I'm sure it was easy for him, but for me, this was the only time throughout the entire day that I got nervous. Playing the game is easy, but when it comes to talking about myself, that can be difficult when the cameras are on. After that, the whole game flew by. I backed Adam up on the second toss-up, similar to what he did on the first one. In the first main puzzle of the game we solved and won a trip to New York City! I'm so excited for my trip. I am bringing my girlfriend Celina, and it should be a lot of fun. I have some family that lives out there too so it will be a great opportunity to see them.

After solving a few more puzzles, Adam and I had made it to the bonus round! We were so confident at this point we felt like we could solve any puzzle they gave us. Then came R, S, T, L, N, and E. We only had a couple letters to start. After we guessed our letters, the puzzle read "HA_R _RA_ _". Immediately, I panicked. I had no idea. The irony of it all was that my theory on the bonus round has always been: if you don't know the puzzle once the ten seconds starts, you're probably not going to solve. Luckily, I was able to disprove my own theory with about three seconds left. Pat reminded us to sound out the puzzle as the ten seconds went along, so after about five seconds of panicking, I decided to look up at the used letter board. The first available letter I saw was B. The puzzle hadn't come to me, so I just sounded out, "Hair...B-rrraid??" Then I saw the puzzle fill in right in front of me, and Pat told me I was correct! I couldn't believe it. Adam and I hugged in shock, and then Pat showed us that we had won $30,000! All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Celina and my mom, running and screaming toward me. It felt like we were celebrating on stage for about ten minutes. The whole experience was completely euphoric. When it was all said and done, Adam and I each got a New York trip and $21,000. This is going to make a huge impact on our first years in college as Adam and I both plan on using the majority of that cash to go toward tuition for our freshman year. I am so grateful to Wheel of Fortune for giving Adam and me this opportunity. It was an experience I will never forget, and I wish they had some sort of Tournament of Champions, because Adam and I would certainly be there! My advice to anyone who thinks they would be a decent player on Wheel: GO FOR IT! You never know, you could end up having an experience you'll never forget.