Contestant Blogs

Kristen & Johnathon E.

POSTED on 8-6
My husband and I have always been fans of Wheel of Fortune, ever since we were little. We would laugh about how the game has changed over the years, and how we remembered the contestants would go through different show rooms and buy prizes with their winnings, and whenever they had a little money left over, they always bought the ceramic Dalmatian! After we married and moved in together, my husband and I would watch the show every night. I even suggested that he sign up for a SPIN ID, because I already had one. We always thought it would be so cool if our SPIN ID was called during one of the shows and we won a trip. We watched the show every night and would compete with each other, screaming out the answers! Then we would argue over who said it first! We were the best "couch players"!

Last year, my husband received a random email from the Wheel of Fortune, inviting him to audition in Washington, D.C. The email also advised him that if he wanted to bring his spouse, that we could audition together as a couple. We were in disbelief! He even called the hotel where the auditions were being held, to confirm that this was a legitimate email! We weren't sure at first, thinking it may have been spam. But, the hotel confirmed the audition date, and we drove to DC in August of 2011 to try out for America's Game Show! There were about 75 people there to audition. A lot of single men and women, and about a dozen couples. We would stand up in the front of the conference room with two other couples and play a simulated game of the Wheel. There was a makeshift wheel that one of the contestant coordinators would spin, and an over-head projector that had a puzzle on a screen. I thought we did pretty well on our simulated rounds! We made a great team, and the contestant coordinators must have thought so too, because when the first cut was made, we made it to the second round of auditions! We played another round of simulated games, and even had a written quiz, with puzzles on it. It was a timed quiz, to see how well we could solve puzzles on our own. After we were finished with the quiz, they thanked us for coming, and told us if we had qualified to appear on the show, we would be notified by mail in three weeks. And if we didn't receive anything, we, unfortunately, didn't make it on the show.

Three weeks had passed, and we hadn't received anything. My husband was especially disappointed! I told him, maybe we will just receive something later and to give it some time. Almost six weeks had passed, and my husband came running into the house screaming that we had gotten something from the Wheel of Fortune! He opened it, and we had been invited to appear on the show! We were ecstatic! Since we were chosen for either Couples Week or Newlyweds Week, we were told that it may be a while before we were asked to come out to California, because they only taped those shows a few times a year. Well, five months later we both received a phone call asking if we could come out and tape our episode on March 9th! We only had two weeks' notice, but we told the contestant coordinator, "We will be there!"

Tune in and watch us spin for it all Thursday, August 9th!