Contestant Blogs

Jeff L.

"Why don't you just try out for Wheel of Fortune? You'd be really good at it." That's what my parents would always tell me. I never put much stock in the advice. I just thought they were just saying that because, well, they were my parents. Watching Wheel of Fortune was always a LeFors family thing, sometimes becoming a competition to see who could solve the puzzles first. Over the years I grew increasingly efficient at solving puzzles faster than anyone. Earlier this year, before sitting down for another episode of Wheel, my father looked over to me and said jokingly, "So can we actually watch the show, or are you going to just solve all the puzzles before any of us again. Why don't you just go try out?" Right then I grabbed my laptop and filled out an application online. It only took a few minutes and I figured that would be the end of my Wheel of Fortune experience.

How wrong I was. About a month later I received an email about a casting/audition in Louisville, KY. Being only a couple hours drive from Indianapolis, I figured hey why not drive down. Even if I don't get on the show, the experience of auditioning would be a story unto itself. In Louisville there were around 60-80 other people there waiting. We were all excited of course, and I was actually a bit nervous. I had no idea what to expect. Once in the room, the contestant coordinators got the energy level WAY up. Rapid-fire Wheel of Fortune followed. Your name would be called, you jumped up, you call out a few letters, and then try to solve the puzzle that was projected on the screen in front of the room. No time to think too muchif you hesitated you were buzzed out.

After about an hour of cheering, clapping, and solving puzzles it was time for the written quiz. The quiz consisted of partially solved puzzles. In five minutes I had to complete as many puzzles as I could. This was tough. I was able to solve about half of the puzzles, but I thought my chances of moving on were gone. Following a break after the quiz we were all invited back into the room to find out if we made the cut to the next round. With each passing name my hopes dwindled until finally I heard "Jeff LeFors". Never had my named sounded so sweet.

The next round was a closer simulation to the real game, with three contestants going against one another. We introduced ourselves and acted if we were actually playing for real. With the auditions over we were told that if we were chosen to be a contestant we'd receive a letter in the mail in about 2 weeks. Sure enough, that letter was in my mailbox two weeks later.

I couldn't believe it! I was going to be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. What started out as a five minute application process on my laptop was turning into one the most unexpected adventures I had ever been a part of, and the journey was just beginning. Two weeks later I got "the call" with my taping dateI was California bound.

Watch me spin on Thursday, October 11th!