Contestant Blogs
This Week's Contestant
Tina M.
| Theme: | Back to the Beach |
|---|---|
| Hometown: | Cambridge, MA |
| Week of: | 04-02-2012 |
POSTED on 4-3
The day of the taping I could not stop shaking. I had an uncontrollable shiver from head to toe. I had never been more nervous in my life! After all the paperwork, game rules and contracts we finally got our chance to spin the wheel! Oh my goodness it's heavy! You literally have to pull and push the wheel in order to get it going around! After getting a feel for the wheel, calling out letters and playing a bit, we went back to get our make-up done and pick which trio of contestants would tape which show. Well I ended up picking ball number one to be on the first show and then again to be the first contestant! My shiver went into full on shaking! I at least wanted a chance to watch to see how it all goes before my big chance, but maybe picking number one was good sign.
We went out to the stage, got miked up and ready for the show. After taping our hometown howdies (shout outs to our hometown and announcing when we will air) it was lights, camera, action! We said our introductions and after solving the first two toss-ups my nerves were instantly at ease. I stopped shaking and it was game on! After that the game moved so fast I didn't even keep count of how much money I was accumulating! To my surprise I didn't land on "Bankrupt" or "Lose a Turn" throughout the whole game! I even picked up the " Kia" card and the "Wild" card! While I didn't win a car I did land on the $2,500 wedge and got to use the wild card, but boy did I screw up! The puzzle was "World Famous Bourbon Street" and rather than picking "b" and scoring $5,000 I picked "d" and only walked away with an extra $2,500, but I solved the puzzled and scored me an all-expenses paid trip for two to New Orleans! I even scored a $1,000 gift certificate for Maui Jim Sunglasses! I was so focused on solving puzzles I was shocked that by the end of the game I had won over $22,000 in cash and prizes!
But the bonus round was the real moment of truth. I had to correctly solve the puzzle all by myself in 10 seconds or less. The category was "Fun and Games" I thought to myself piece of cake! I had solved these all the time on the iPad version of the game and on my couch! But once the squares lit up and it was a really short puzzle, I panicked! While I am able to knock out puzzles left and right for some reason I've always stumbled on the shorter ones because I over think it! As soon as I heard Pat say, "...three constants and a vowel" my nerves took over again, my mind began to race and I found my mouth spitting out letters. The clock started and every word that began with the letter "L" ran through my head except for the one on the board! My ten seconds was up and it was all over. I could hear the sympathy moan from crowd and when I turned to look at Pat to see what I wasn't walking away with I felt like I received the saddest news ever! I was so sure I had it in the bag! But then he quickly reminded me that I had won over $22,000 in cash and prizes and really... who could be sad about that! But the word leapfrog will forever haunt me for the rest of my life!
Even after all the trips I've made (audition & taping), the games I've played, the prizes and money...I still can't believe I've actually been on Wheel of Fortune! Meeting Pat and Vanna was amazing as well as the contestant department team! They got us all excited, were tons of fun and as ready as we could ever be! This experience is one I will never forget and probably be telling for the rest of my life!