Contestant Blogs

Geneva B. & Tim D.

POSTED on Thursday, November 15th, 2012

We only slept a few hours the night before taping because Geneva had EMT school until 10 p.m., and we drove to Downey that night. On only a few hours rest, we drove to Sony studios for the taping. The entrance to the studio was amazing and it finally hit us that we were going to be on TV on Wheel of Fortune! The day started with explanations of how the day would go and getting the paper work out of the way. Then we were able to walk around the studio and got to spin the wheel. It is true that the wheel is heavier than it seems on T.V. It was surreal to be on this set because I have watched Wheel of Fortune over a 1000 times. Our excitement to be on the same stage as Pat and Vanna was growing by the second. While we were waiting to go into make-up we had a surprise visit from Vanna in the staging room which was great. She was so nice and wished all of us the best of luck. We drew 4th show which meant we were going to be watching a few shows before it was our turn. With every passing puzzle we got a little more nervous. Finally we were up next, and then had to wait for lunch! It was such a tease for us and our fellow contestants. !

When we made it up to the wheel we did some last minute practice spins, and waited impatiently for the start of the game. Right off the bat we won the first toss-up which eased our nerves a bit. We did not win the next two puzzles and were starting to fall behind a little bit. When it was our turn to start the round we started with some big money spins and did not stop until we were able to solve. That was the only other puzzle we won during the game and it was a big one. That puzzle gave us enough money to make it to the bonus round.

When I realized that we were the leaders I leaned over to Geneva and said "We're going to the Bonus Round. We are going to the Bonus Round!" trying extremely hard not to interrupt Pat as he was saying goodbye to the other contestants.

Now that we got to the bonus round Geneva gave the smaller bonus round wheel a hard spin and I chose the envelope, again trying to contain our excitement of actually being there. We have seen this so many times that I was excited for Pat to tell us to stand at the mark on the floor! When the saw the puzzle and the letters (RSTLNE) showed up we had no idea what the puzzle was. We chose the letters and they were good ones. As soon as they came up I looked over to Geneva and said "I know it," after a short second she looks back and says "I know it too!" So Pat says to the camera "Sounds like they know it" and as soon as he let us loose we screamed out the answer! We jumped up and down and I picked up Geneva and spun her around. We were in awe of what had just happened. But wait, we forgot to wait to see what we won! Pat opened the envelope to reveal our prize and I picked Geneva up again and spun her around! Geneva gave Pat a hug, I gave Pat an unwanted hug and we were in cloud nine after our big win.

We want to thank the Wheel of Fortune team for giving us this opportunity. God Bless the other Military Families out there and that you for your service!