Contestant Blogs
This Week's Contestant
Lori J.
| Theme: | Sand & Sea |
|---|---|
| Hometown: | Belleville, IL |
| Week of: | 02-21-2011 |
POSTED 2-21
I am an avid Wheel Watcher and have been since I started dating my husband. His family always watched it and it became one of my favorite things to do with them when we were at his parents' house. Thank God for DVR! I can now see every single show even when I have other engagements in the evening. Back in November, while watching a DVR'd episode of Wheel, I saw that KSDK NewsChannel 5 St. Louis was offering a chance to win an audition for Wheel of Fortune. I decided to put my name in a random drawing. A week later, I got a letter in the mail inviting me to a final audition!
At the audition, potential contestants had to present personality and vitality, worthy of being an actual Wheel of Fortune contestant. Several people were unable to clap and smile at the same time while the pretend Wheel was being spun, and some got stone-faced while trying to figure out the puzzles. Fortunately, I was able to multi-task enough to make it through. I also had to take a written test completing as many puzzles as possible in 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes felt like 30 seconds! I left the audition and was told I would receive a letter in the mail if I had been given a spot as a contestant. Like others, I anxiously checked the mail every day. Six days after the audition, I was on my way to check the mail and decided to check my cell phone voice mail. The message was from Wheel of Fortune telling me I had been selected as a contestant to be on the show in three weeks! The call was so unexpected, especially since I had yet to receive my letter (which I received two days later). My husband and I quickly booked flights out to Los Angeles. A few friends we have met through all of our military moves also booked flights to join us out there as well! We all flew out the night before the taping of my show. I was surprised that I wasn't that nervous and I actually slept fairly well!
The morning of my show, I rode a shuttle to Sony Picture Studios with other contestants. Getting to know the other people was so fun. We spent the morning at the studios filling out paperwork and practicing spinning the wheel and solving practice puzzles. During our paperwork portion, the lovely Vanna popped her head in and said hello! She was beautiful even without makeup! And very friendly! We all took turns getting make-up touch-ups, and then drew randomly for which show we would be on and which spot we would have. I was paired up with Jenny and Jared, and we got the fourth show of the week. Then we drew for spots, and I drew the red spot, the first position closest to Pat! Sitting through the first few shows was exciting and also nerve-racking! We broke for lunch between the third and fourth show (my show), so I had to sit and wait even more. It was worth it though! Tune in Thursday, February 24th to see how I did!