Drew G.

What an experience! I really enjoyed the application and tryout process. The Zoom calls and demo/mini-games were really fun and actually helped me understand which categories I might be best or worst at on the show (which was helpful for choosing a category for the Bonus Round!). I practiced with word games and, of course, the Wheel of Fortune app on my phone regularly. If I still had my NES copy of the Wheel of Fortune video game, I would've used that too.
When I found out that I made the show, I was over the moon! I found out in early December, two weeks before my wedding to my wonderful wife Angela, and our tape date was scheduled for about a month later. Getting to LA for the taping turned out to be a bit trickier than anticipated, as the original tape date was a few days after the devastating Palisades fire broke out. That pushed the tape date back a bit, and I wasn’t sure my wife would be able to join me in LA on the new date—but fortunately, she was able to get the extra day off work. She actually flew back home to Las Vegas almost straight from the studio so she could work the next day! She’s amazing.

Tape day was a blast. Vanna White came to greet all of us as we were being led into the studio. We got to hang out in the Jeopardy! studio for a few hours early on (which was super cool to see in person), and then came the time to get into the Wheel of Fortune studio. Seeing the Wheel up close was a dream come true, and gripping the Wheel and giving it a spin during our practice time was almost an out-of-body experience. When you're standing next to it on the studio floor, it looks a bit smaller than you'd expect—but only because it's surrounded by the rest of the studio. Standing in position to spin it, it’s truly massive and very, very heavy. The Wheel of Fortune staff is wonderful at helping everyone relax and get familiar with how the game is played. No matter how many times you’ve watched the show, it’s very easy to forget everything when you’re face-to-face with the Wheel and the Letter Board, so credit to the production team for helping keep those butterflies at bay.

I had told Angela prior to taping that my goal was to solve the Prize Puzzle, and I was actually a little nervous about the Toss-Up at the start of the game. You just never know what’s going to make the puzzle click for you until the right letter pops up! So getting that first solve really helped me settle down—and sweeping the opening Toss-Ups to pocket some cash and get control of the Wheel was more than I could’ve hoped for. And then it got better.

That first round was wild! I’m sure that watching it on TV, many of you were screaming at the screen about what the puzzle could have been, but trying to focus on everything in the moment—and not take too much time between calling a letter and deciding to spin, solve, or buy a vowel—had me entirely uncertain of what the first long word of the puzzle was until right before I called my final letter.

And then I was wrong. Growing up in South Florida, maybe 20 minutes from the beach, I can tell you that I was so incredibly certain in that moment that a group of jellyfish was called a swarm. I will never, ever, for as long as I live, forget that the term is smack. I have no clue what would’ve happened if I’d called out “M” instead of “R,” because “SMA--” would have REALLY thrown me off. I’m curious to hear from my friends and family back in Florida if they knew it was smack and not swarm after the show airs.

So I didn’t get the first solve, but everything else went so perfectly. I met my goal in Round 3. I got to pick up both a wedge and the Wild Card off the Wheel (which is super easy to forget to do during gameplay until Ryan reminds you), and I got to the Bonus Round. And during that Bonus Round, I’m sure it was clear to you watching the moment I realized that not only did I know the answer and lock in the prize money in the envelope—but I was going to win an incredible trip on top of it (in addition to the one I won during the Prize Puzzle round)!

I’ve lived all over the country, so my family and friends are pretty spread out. While my parents, brother (and sister-in-law), and sister (and brother-in-law) are all watching in different cities, I’m very excited to FaceTime with them during or after the broadcast. I’m actually writing this blog post while on my honeymoon, and my wife and I are planning to take a break from sightseeing to make sure we can watch the show as it’s airing back home in Las Vegas. Thanks to Wheel of Fortune, we’ll now get a second and a third honeymoon!

Oh—and since I’m told there’s no character limit for this post (and we aren’t constricted by the time limit of the show): The longest word in the English dictionary is spelled pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Thank you, Mrs. Purcell (and shout-out to Eagle Ridge Elementary)!