By Stephy Mahoney | Staff Writer, Kaity Kempf | LTVN Reporter
A Baylor senior participated in a Wheel of Fortune spring break taping back in January to test her odds. The episode where she won $18,850 aired Tuesday night on CBS, NBC and ABC.
Granite Bay, Calif., senior Madeline Ahrens said she applied to participate back in November while she was watching other episodes.
Ahrens said the entire process was a lot but worth every minute. She said producers wanted people with “bubbly” personalities who are fun to watch on TV. Once the first cut made it through the personality interview, participants moved on to the final interview on Zoom with four other people.
During this interview, she said producers had them introduce themselves and do random puzzle-solving games and toss-ups to see their solving skills. The film was then evaluated to determine if they would gain a spot or not.
Ahrens said she likes to solve puzzles and watch the show with her family and that she has “always loved Wheel of Fortune.”
“It was honestly a shot in the dark and I didn’t think I would get chosen but I thought, ‘Why not just go for it?’” Ahrens said. “I heard [back] on a Sunday, and two Fridays later, I was there to film. It was a very quick turnaround because they only film a couple days a month.”
Ahrens also said participants were allowed four guests, so she brought her mom, aunt and two good friends to the taping.
“The hardest part was honestly how fast-paced it was,” Ahrens said. “When you’re there and the lights are on you and you’re looking at this huge letter board … you have to have multiple steps planned out in your head.”
Before the show, Ahrens said she was able to prepare and practice using the Wheel of Fortune app to strengthen her abilities and be more prepared for the puzzles and toss-ups the day of.
She also said members of the taping stayed in touch with each other through Instagram sending each other messages through a group chat and was especially active this past week.
Ahrens said the support and love from family and friends while trying out, going through the process and waiting for the show to air was overwhelmingly positive.
She said it was surreal to be there and there were moments she told herself, “I can’t believe I just shook Pat’s hand and met Vanna.”
“I’m nervous to see myself and hear myself on TV, it’s going to be weird, but it’ll be fun,” Ahrens said.
Christopher Orenic, manager of communications at Wheel of Fortune, said there are no extracurricular requirements such as GPA or school involvement to be selected on the show.
“They just have to be undergraduate students, and extracurricular activities, GPA, etc. are not as important as who they are as a person and if they’re actually good at Wheel of Fortune,” Orenic said.
Orenic also said travel is paid for by each individual contestant and added they only needed to be on set for one day and “have a great time.”
“Usually, if they go into the bonus round, they already are the winner of the three contents in that show,” Orenic said. “There’s opportunity for a lot of big wins.”
While the show offers many opportunities for contestants to win big, its website indicates that spinning the wheel is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” and they mean it because so many people want to be on the show, and people can only be on it once.
Orenic said for this current season, the Wheel of Fortune team had both College Week and Spring Break edition shows to give double the amount of opportunities for college students to be picked.
“It’s super fun to see their faces and how excited they are because as it is, with many contestants, they’ve been watching since they were a kid with their grandparents or parents,” Orenic said. “Them getting to be on one of their favorite TV shows and actually get a chance to win money, is extremely rewarding.”
