Jacquelyn B.

Jacquelyn B.

Theme Week:
Wheel Around the World
Contestant:
Jacquelyn B.
Hometown:
Oxford, MS
Week of:
August 17, 2009

Posted on 08-19

The next two weeks were filled with pure joy as I continued to share the news and wonder what would happen in LA! March 5th finally arrived and I woke up feeling ready for the day. I have WOF computer games, a handheld game, and of course watch every night; I had trained for this day my whole life! Several contestants rode the same shuttle to the studio and we all became instant friends. There weren't words to express just how excited we all were. We arrived and stared in awe at all of the giant studios and walked in disbelief to the WOF studio. We were met by the familiar faces of the Contestant Coordinators as they led us into the contestant room where we would go over rules, legal stuff, and do's and don'ts. We continued to sit and chat with each other until it was our turn to get our make up done. It was really fun to get my make up done by a professional and everyone looked fabulous! We also went to the stage for the first time and practiced spinning that wheel!!! I'll never forget that first spin!

We returned to the room and drew to see who would be on which show and at what position on stage. Then suddenly, as if we weren't excited and star struck enough already, Pat Sajak and Vanna White came to talk to us before the show! They gave us some tips and told us to remember to buy vowels because they can help you solve the puzzles. They left and I drew the second game, first position! I got to know Rich and Ashley (my fellow contestants) better and we hit it off and all wanted each other to do well. It came time to tape the first show so we sat in the audience and cheered on the 3 who were on stage, hoping someone would win big. In what felt like one minute later, we were being summoned backstage to get ready to tape our show!

We got into position and then Pat and Vanna walked onto stage. My dream was finally being realized, my wish came true. We began to play and the wheel was very kind to me throughout the game. I won the Jackpot during that round and also won two trips during the Prize Puzzle round! I won a week on the island of Oahu, Hawaii AND a ten day tour of France, I still can't believe it!! The wheel also rewarded me with a free spin and a wild card! It was the game of a lifetime!

Before I knew it Pat was standing next to me telling me I was the big winner!! I simply could not believe it. With my wild card in hand I walked to the small wheel and began focusing my mind on solving the puzzle. I chose my letters and was rewarded with two letters. I knew the answer almost immediately- KEYHOLE! Pat opened the envelope-$25,000!!!!! I could not believe my eyes- I had just won almost $60,000 in cash and prizes. I was in total shock and filled with so much joy I thought I was going to bust! My mom, dad, and boyfriend ran onto stage and were in shock!! My dream had not only come true but my life had changed as a result of it! I am now able to pay for the surgery I had in January and plan for my future. I will also be able to donate to several charities in need around my area! Thank you Wheel of Fortune!



Posted on 08-17


I guess you could say my WOF experience started at a young age because I insisted on watching it every night as a child even if it meant skipping dinner! I have probably owned every version of the game at one point or another in my 17 years of watching the game. My love for game shows and WOF in particular led to a strong desire to be on a game show sometime during my life. I have always known that it would happen, I just didn't know when, where, or how it would happen. I would always watch WOF and be so envious of the players-they were living my dream! My dream began to take form on that magical night that Michelle Loewenstein won the Million Dollar prize; this was the night I found out that the Wheelmobile was coming to Mississippi! I couldn't believe that the opportunity of a lifetime was coming to my backyard! Pat and Vanna came on during a commercial break and told me to check it out online so I did and immediately called my best girlfriends and asked them to join me! They jumped at the opportunity and so the plan was set!

The following Sunday we hopped in the car and drove the quick hour to Tunica, MS where the auditions were being held. I began to get nervous seeing all the people that had showed up but quickly calmed myself after remembering that this was something I had always believed in. I filled out my application for the second game and sat anxiously in the audience hoping my name would be called but much to my dismay it was never called. I remained confident; I had a date with destiny! I put my application in for the third game and again waited in the audience for that special moment- and then it came! I was the first name to be called! I ran excitedly to the stage and knew it was my time to shine. I ended up asking the traveling host to dance with me and he gladly obliged and even got the crowd involved! I didn't solve my puzzle but felt like I had made a good impression on the judges by setting myself apart from the other contestants. Just making it on stage was exhilarating and exciting, and I was so grateful just to have gotten to do that. We were told that it would be about a month to six weeks before we would hear anything, so I put it in the back of my mind because I knew it was out of my hands...

Several months came and went with no word from the show and then I got that magical e-mail from the show asking me to come to the second audition! I GOT A CALL BACK!!!!!!!!!! The second audition was a little more intensive than the first so that the Contestant Coordinators could really get to know us. I had one strategy going into all of the auditions- Believe in yourself! If you can dream it, you can do it! We took individual turns solving puzzles and talking about ourselves as they narrowed the pool down from about 80 to 20. I left the audition full of anxiety because I would have to wait another 2 weeks to hear back from the show!!

All I could think about in the next few days was whether or not I would be chosen for the show. I told myself that even if I did not make it, it had still been one of the best experiences of my life. And then, six days after the audition, I answered a call from a strange number and much to my surprise, it was Wheel of Fortune calling to tell me I had been chosen to be on the show!!!!! Tears of joy immediately filled my eyes as I wrote all of the information down. My dream had come true. I would be taping in only 2 weeks! It was time to prepare for one of the biggest days of my life...