Contestant Blogs

Kanika E.

POSTED 4-4

I've been a Wheel of Fortune fan since I was a little girl watching it with my grandmother. As a matter of fact, I have enjoyed watching numerous game shows, and I always imagined myself being a contestant, but I never dreamed that it would actually happen. Well, one evening my husband Jonathan and I were watching Wheel of Fortune and during the commercial break we learned of an upcoming open audition that would be held at the Dallas Convention Center. He immediately lit up and said, "Babe, you're going to that audition!" I must admit that I was skeptical and didn't want to go because I knew there could possibly be a few thousand people at the audition, but he quickly reminded me that I'm always solving the puzzles at home and it would be crazy to let this opportunity pass me by. So, when the day of the audition arrived, we leisurely made our way to the convention center with our 1-year-old daughter and waited in an unbelievably long zigzagged line. I filled out the short application and just as I was ready to drop it into the raffle box, Jonathan took my paper, crumpled it up in a ball, then straightened it back out. His theory was that if my paper had some wrinkles in it, it was more likely to be drawn because it had a different texture. Well, his theory proved to be true because my paper was indeed drawn and my name was called to come up on stage to play a round of Wheel! Within two weeks I received an email stating that I had made it to the final audition! Then, two weeks after my final audition, I received my golden ticket! Well, actually it was a letter in the mail declaring that I would be a contestant on Wheel within the next 18 months!

So Jonathan and I decided to make a big announcement about my upcoming TV debut during Sunday family dinner (to about 15 family members), along with an announcement that we were expecting our second child! We certainly had plenty to be thankful for! I called one of the contestant coordinators to inform them of my pregnancy and upcoming due date. They apparently took that date into consideration because it was one year after my audition that I got the call to come on the show. Two weeks later my husband and I left our 2-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son with my amazing mom, dad and brother, and we boarded a flight to LA. It seemed like my nervousness set in as soon as I boarded the plane, even though I wouldn't be taping the show until the following day. After landing in LA, one of my best friends reassured me that I had nothing to worry about because I was a natural at solving puzzles. I replied, "I'm not worried about solving the puzzles. I'm worried about spinning the Wheel because that part is totally out of my control!" She said, "Well you just concentrate on the puzzles and let Jesus take the Wheel!" I laughed out loud, but found myself singing that particular Carrie Underwood song the rest of the weekend!

Be sure to tune in April 6th to discover the outcome of my Wheel experience!