Lisa G.

Lisa G.

Theme Week:
Halloween
Contestant:
Lisa G.
Hometown:
Wheaton, IL
Week of:
October 26, 2009

Posted on 10/28


“All I want to do is solve one puzzle” I thought to myself as I stood behind the red podium and watched Pat and Vanna walk onto the stage. We were told to pick up our signaling buttons and Pat read off the category for the first Toss-Up. Vanna touched the board and the letters began to appear. With only a few letters filled in I buzzed in and solved the very first puzzle of the game! I was SO happy! The solve also helped calm my nerves – I had just met my goal.

After the second Toss-Up was solved, the spinning began. You probably can’t tell on TV, but that is one heavy Wheel!! The taping seemed to fly by and I couldn’t believe how fast it was happening – I felt like I could have played all day long.

In between puzzles, we were given water and pep-talks by the contestant coordinators to make us feel at ease. The make-up artists would also touch-up our make-up to make sure we were looking our best on camera.

When Round 2 arrived and Pat announced that the category was Before & After, I got really excited – In my opinion, the Before & After category is the most fun to solve. I started spinning and calling out letters. Every so often I remembered to buy a vowel – a great piece of advice from the contestant coordinators! Another tip the contestant coordinators gave us was to keep the game moving along so more game play could take place. I kept this in mind and tried to make my decisions quickly. After giving the wheel a spin and taking another look at the puzzle I realized I knew it – but I had already put the wheel in motion. I remember thinking “please don’t land on Bankrupt or Lose A Turn”. The wheel must have read my mind because it landed on a trip to Canada! Pat asked me for a letter and I called out “K”. After the 2 Ks were revealed, I removed the Canada wedge from the wheel and solved the puzzle. What an incredible feeling!!

In total I won $11,936 in cash and prizes. I can’t wait to go ghost hunting in Quebec! Being a contestant on Wheel of Fortune has been the adventure of a lifetime and I am so grateful for the experience. I still can’t believe it – and to think it all started with hitting the “Submit” button…

Thanks Wheel of Fortune!



Posted on 10/26


You know how they say everything happens for a reason? Being laid off from my first job after graduation turned out to be the start of a great adventure.

It all began during the month I was out of work. My days were spent working on my resume, applying for jobs, and watching TV on the couch – particularly game shows. Always being a fan of Wheel of Fortune, I decided one day to take a break from the job hunt and visit the Wheel of Fortune web site, where I found the online contestant registration form. I immediately filled it out and hit the “submit” button. What a dream it would be to play Wheel of Fortune as a contestant in the studio – and I could definitely use some extra cash!

I got the e-mail inviting me to a final audition in Chicago about ten months later while sitting at my desk at work. I couldn’t believe it! I had a co-worker come over and take a look at the e-mail and asked her if she thought it was the real deal. We both decided it was truly the invitation of a lifetime. I forwarded the e-mail to my mom, who then contacted the hotel that was hosting the event to make sure it was, indeed legitimate. When they also confirmed, I immediately called the contestant staff at Wheel of Fortune and told them I would be there!

When the day of the auditions came, my mom and I took the train to downtown Chicago early that morning to make sure I wouldn’t be late. While waiting for the ballroom to open, I sized up the competition and tried to remain calm. The doors finally opened at 9:00 am and we filed in and took our seats. After filling out some paperwork, the audition began. One by one our names were called and we stood up and called letters attempting to solve the puzzles projected on a large screen at the front of the room. Once every contestant hopeful had at least one turn, a quiz was distributed that was made up of 16 puzzles only partially solved. We were told we had 5 minutes to complete as many puzzles as we could. Not going to lie – that was one tough quiz! When the 5 minutes was up, our quizzes were collected and we were instructed to wait outside while they were graded.

After about 20 minutes, all of the contestant hopefuls were called back into the ballroom. The contestant coordinators began to call the names of the 20 people that made it to the second round of auditions – and my name was one of them! I was so excited. We had to go to the front of the room in groups of 4 and play mock rounds of the game and give a little intro about ourselves. I was called to be in the first group and solved the first puzzle incorrectly! I thought my Wheel of Fortune dreams would be coming to an end with that error…

But two weeks later a letter arrived telling me I had been selected to be a contestant on the show!

Four months passed before I got the e-mail saying I had a tape date for Halloween Week. It had to be fate - Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. I couldn’t believe that my Wheel of Fortune debut would be on a show with that theme.

For the next two weeks I practiced. I watched the show and my parents bought me a little handheld Wheel of Fortune game to practice my spins and puzzling solving skills. I religiously did the online crossword puzzles. My boyfriend and his family got me a Wheel of Fortune computer game to play while we vacationed together the week before the show. My mom even downloaded a Wheel of Fortune application for her phone that we played during the flight to L.A.

On the day of the taping, I was up at 6:00 am getting ready to go.  The shuttle was coming to pick us up at the hotel at 7:15 A.M. and there was no way I was going to miss it! I got down to the hotel lobby a few minutes early and met several of the other contestants. Then the shuttle pulled up and we were on our way to Sony Studios!

In the hours before taping began, we had a lot to do – filling out paperwork, getting our make-up done, practicing, and reviewing the rules of the show, and my favorite part – finding out which show we were going to be on. The contestant coordinators had already put us in groups of 3.  One representative from each group had to come to the front of the room and pull out a golf ball with a number on it. The number determined which show you would be taping. I was the representative in my group. I remember thinking “anything but #1” when I reached in to grab a golf ball. On the count of three, the five representatives opened their hands to reveal the numbers on their golf balls. I had pulled out #2. The next step was to draw for our playing positions.

Once everyone knew their playing positions and taping order, we were ushered into the audience and got our nametags. 5K and Charlie stopped by to wish us luck. When the first show’s taping began, we sat in the audience and cheered on our fellow contestants. The next thing I knew the contestant coordinators were calling for show #2’s contestants to get ready. After a quick drink of water and make-up touch-up I took a deep breath and headed out to the stage…