A spur-of-the-moment audition tape resulted in Kate Stuntz getting chosen to compete on the popular game show. Her episode will air on Friday, Jan. 24.
When Kate Stuntz’s roommate broke her ankle last spring, she and her friends rallied together to keep her entertained while she was immobile. The friends ended up playing a lot of games “Wheel of Fortune,” the classic game show, on the Wii gaming console.
In the midst of one of these sessions, Stuntz, now a fourth-year Northeastern University student studying computer science and behavioral neuroscience, came up with an idea: What if she actually auditioned for the show?
“It was a little bit of a joke, but also a means to cheer her up,” Stuntz said. “On the spot I made an audition tape … and then a couple days later, I got an email saying “Congratulations, you’ve been selected for an audition.”
Thus began Stuntz’s journey to “Wheel of Fortune,” which culminated in a trip to Los Angeles last month to compete on the game show. The show will air on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. EST on MyTV38.
(No spoiler alert. You’ll have to tune in to find out how she did.)
After sending in her original one-minute audition tape, Stuntz, who is also a member of Northeastern’s women’s rugby, did two more auditions. The first was an introductory call with a producer that was followed by a tryout in which she competed against four other aspiring contestants.
Six months later, in November, Stuntz finally got word that she was selected to film for the show at the studio in Culver City, California, in December.
“I took my last final and then took an Uber to the airport 30 minutes after I got home,” she said.
Despite her love of the Wii version, Stuntz hadn’t watched much “Wheel of Fortune” since she was a kid. To get ready for the show, she and her roommates watched the episodes leading up to her filming.
She also played a game version of “Wheel of Fortune” on her phone, along with doing daily crosswords and word games like the New York Times’ Spelling Bee. This is a part of regular routine, but also helped prepare her, she said, as did her background coming from a competitive board game-loving family.
“It’s funny because some of the other contestants were talking about how much they prepared for the show,” said Stuntz, who was the youngest player in the episode she filmed. “And I was like ‘I had a final, (so) that was my priority.’”
Stuntz spent a whirlwind 24 hours in California, filming the show from 6:30 in the morning to 6:30 at night before hopping a plane home back to the East Coast with her roommate who went with her to cheer her on in the audience.
The day kicked off with rehearsals, which involved making sure contestants knew how to spin the wheel correctly, followed by filming the game itself. Her episode was one of six filmed on set that day.
She also got her hair and makeup done and had stylists who would readjust her appearance during commercial breaks.
“It was so fun,” she said. “It was a crazy 24 hours. … It was not what I was expecting at all. It was a really long day (and) I was the youngest by far of everyone who was filming that day, but it was cool.”
She also got to meet hosts Vanna White and Ryan Seacrest.
“They were both very, very nice,” she said. “Vanna actually came in in the morning to say hi to everyone. She was lovely. Ryan was really nice and really fun and bubbly. He’s actually a really nice guy.”
Stuntz isn’t sure if she’ll continue to seek out game shows. After she graduates from Northeastern in the spring, she’s going to work at Whoop, a fitness tech company, as a software engineer after doing a co-op for them last year.
But since her appearance, she has tried to incorporate “game show hour” in her apartment as she and her roommates watch “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.”
“I think it’s fun,” she said. “It’s a little routine. It’s a nice break in my evenings.”
They will be tuning into her episode on Jan. 24 with an apartment watch party.