Daniel T.

What an incredible experience! This all started with my wife convincing me to show up for the open casting call at the Tachi Palace in Lemoore, CA.

When I was young and had just moved to California, I went with my parents to a furniture store where Vanna White was doing a signing for Spring Air mattresses. I have my mother—the scrapbooker—to thank for creating an album where I kept that photo over the years. I brought it with me to my audition as my "good luck charm."

It seems to have paid off—not only did the producers love it and push me through, but I also got to meet Maggie Sajak at the event, and my picture of Vanna will be featured on my episode!

After each step of the audition process, I kept practicing on the Wheel of Fortune app and watched every episode leading up to my tape day (and beyond, of course!). Days turned into weeks, and I started to think my time had come and gone. I even began wondering what I could do differently if I had to audition again.

But thankfully, I received my tape date invite email during the first week of September for Fabulous Foods Week—which airs the first week of December (my episode being the first one shot, airing on December 2nd!).

The nerves definitely traveled heavy with me going into tape day, but they quickly settled after meeting my fellow contestants and all of the staff involved in each step of the event. We even got a surprise visit from Vanna first thing in the morning, which I think helped the group settle into the reality that this was really happening and not just a dream!

After calming down from being starstruck, I had such a great time getting to know my fellow contestants. I grew close with this group of strangers I’ll never forget—and will always hold dear in my heart.

My biggest takeaway from this experience was just how positive, sweet, and encouraging everyone was—from every production team member to all of my fellow contestants. Not once did it feel like a cutthroat competition. Everyone was uplifting and cheered each other on the same.

Although mistakes were made (calling a vowel first when landing on the Express wedge—oof!), hindsight is 20/20. The memories and friends I made during this bucket list day were absolutely life-changing, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.