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Many fans of Wheel of Fortune have wondered what appearing on the program would be like. Thanks to local businesswoman Elizabeth Kilgore Teal, we can now go behind the scenes with her as a contestant and learn more about this incredibly popular, long lasting game show.

In January, Teal saw an ad on Facebook that offered: “Apply to be a contestant on Disney Wheel of Fortune.” As a lifelong Disney fan, and on a whim, she applied thinking, “Oh, wouldn’t that be fun.”

Although Teal was not a big fan of Wheel of Fortune growing up, her husband, Joey, and his parents are big fans.

Several months went by and in March she received an email saying she had been selected for a virtual zoom audition. She initially thought it was a scam email. However, it was real and the zoom audition lasted only two or three minutes. Mrs. Teal was told she would hear from Wheel of Fortune in the next few months if she had been chosen to move to the next round.

The very next day she received an email she had been chosen to move to the next round, a 30 minute zoom meeting. During this zoom meeting she had to solve several different puzzles and once again was told they would reach out to her if selected. Six months went by and Mrs. Teal had decided she had not been selected.

In September, she received THE email saying she had been chosen to appear on the show-a Disney Christmas episode that would shoot in Los Angeles in four weeks.

On October 20th, Mrs. Teal, her husband, her mother, Susan Kilgore, her mother in law Chandra Teal and her aunt were off to Los Angeles to begin the big adventure. Contestants are only allowed four guests in the audience.

Wheel of Fortune films six episodes during the day and Mrs. Teal was told to prepare for a long day. Mrs. Teal and her entourage had a call time to arrive at Sony Studios at 6:45am.

Let’s let Mrs. Teal pick up the story.

“I woke up at 4am to ensure I would have plenty of time to get ready and drive from the hotel to the studio. I had to submit my wardrobe selection, three options, in advance so they could be approved. I was instructed to arrive dressed and ‘camera-ready’ and they would do touch ups as needed.”

“We went thru security and met with the producers to go thru all the rules and sign waivers. It was so fun meeting the other contestants. They were all so nice and we all instantly felt like family.”

“All this actually took place on the Jeopardy stage which was really cool. Breakfast was provided and we were each called over to hair and makeup for touch ups.”

“We then went over to the Wheel of Fortune stage to practice spinning the wheel and calling letters. We each got to play a practice round. We had to practice enunciating strongly. We didn’t want our southern accent to cause us to end up with an ‘M’ instead of an ‘N’. This all helped with the nerves.”

Throughout the morning we rehearsed several times what our introduction discussions with Ryan would be. We had submitted a detailed questionnaire the week before.”

“We then went back to the Jeopardy stage to learn which episode we would be filming, what contestants we would be with and what our position beside the wheel would be. I was selected to film the second episode and would be with the two people I played my practice round with.”

“When it was time to begin filming the actual episodes, we were seated in a sequestered section of the studio audience. As the first episode was beginning to wrap up, my fellow episode contestants and I were called backstage to get our final hair and makeup. We also went over what we would discuss with Ryan one more time. Then it was time to film! I was afraid I would be nervous but I was surprisingly calm and able to focus on the puzzles. My fellow contestants were so nice and I was genuinely thrilled when each of them did well.”

Mrs. Teal described meeting host Ryan Seacrest. “We did not meet Ryan until it was our turn on stage. He was truly as nice as you would hope he is! He seemed to genuinely enjoy his job and was great at both moving the game along and making you feel like he was authentically invested in it and wanted you to do well.”

What about letter turner Vanna White? “Vanna was also as lovely as you would hope she is! We actually did see her arriving on set as we were going thru security and she stopped to greet us and wish us luck.”

After taping, the contestants go backstage and sign tax related documents according to Mrs. Teal.

When asked about the experience, Teal offered, “This was truly the most incredible experience imaginable.” She also offered this advice, “If there is anything you have ever thought about doing or trying and thought it might seem like a long shot- GO FOR IT! You never know when you might end up with an experience of a lifetime!”

Due to contractual obligations, Mrs. Teal is not able to share the results of her episode at this time.

Mrs. Teal’s episode will air nation-wide Tuesday, Dec. 2. Unfortunately, in middle Tennessee on Tuesdays during the NFL season, Wheel of Fortune is preempted by a Titans talk show.

The episode will replay at 12:05 a.m. Wednesday morning, Dec. 3, on Channel 2 WKRN so be sure to set your DVR to record. The episode will also be available to stream on Hulu and Peacock beginning the next day.