Won $120,000 on Wheel of Fortune

[Linda Buquet]

Not me silly! I wish.

My niece from Sturgeon Bay Wisc. just won $120,000
PLUS a trip to Greece
PLUS a trip to Hawaii

We knew she won something but had no idea how much.
She was sworn to secrecy til the show aired.
So the whole family watched tonight waiting to find out.

She was interviewed by her local newspaper and all she would say was
"well it was at least enough to cover my trip to LA."

She had never been on a plane before. Now she's going on some REALLY long trips.

She's a single Mom, so what a windfall this is for her.

Anyway, super cool! Just thought I'd share.

 

[keystrokes]

That is so cool! I am a big Wheel of Fortune fan, but I don't know if I could do it with all those cameras around.

Exciting!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Yep very cool!

I figured she won around 20K. For a single MOM working her way through college as a bartender 20K is still HUGE. But 120K plus 2 big trips is
GYNORMOUS!

 

[Jenyfari]

That's excellent. What a buzz!!!

 

[StephenR]

THAT IS AWESOME! On her trip to Hawaii tell her to stop by so I can show her how to most effectively spread the wealth around the island! =)

 

[Linda Buquet]

On her trip to Hawaii tell her to stop by so I can show her how to most effectively spread the wealth around the island! =)

Stephen, you crack me up!!! I'll tell her.

 

[Teli]

Wow! Linda, this is some awesome news.

Congratulations to your niece. How was the show? More importantly, how did everyone react while watching your niece on TV?

~ Teli

 

[DomainMagnate]

Congrats! I believe more in math and probability though, not in lottery heh

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hey Michael, good to see you posting again.

Teli, most of the family is back in Wisconsin. She works at a bar so there was a huge party at the bar and all her friends and the family went there to watch. I hear things got pretty crazy.

I think she also had lots of OLD friends come out of the wood work wanting to become her new BEST friends.

 

[Larwee]

In her own words - Linda's niece tells her story

Linda has told us about her niece being on <i>Wheel of Fortune</i> and being a big winner. She won $122,500. That is the most ever won by a player on Wheel of Fortune in one day since the show began in 1983.

5 Star members have been interested in this. The very best possible thing would be to read what Linda's niece had to say about <i>Wheel of Fortune</i>, so here it is, in her own words:

Wheel of Fortune has always been my favorite game show and it has been a lifelong dream of mine to be a contestant on the show. Knowing this, my mom called me one day and told me that they were holding Wheel of Fortune auditions in Green Bay which is about an hour away from where I live. I got so excited and I called all of my friends and told them about it. Some of them wanted to come with me, but I had to refuse because my friends are all pretty awesome and I didn't want them to decrease my odds of getting an audition.

The auditions are held in a raffle type fashion. There were three sessions that each lasted for one hour. Everyone who attends the audition writes his/her name on a questionnaire. During each one hour period, they pick as many names as possible for people to play a mock game of Wheel of Fortune. I had really high hopes, but my name didn't get called during the first show. After watching the first show I started to get really nervous. It seemed that everyone who attended the audition came in large groups. An audition starts as soon as a person?s name is announced and they are expected to go crazy with excitement and everyone who comes with them cheers really loudly for them. That's when I wished that I had brought my friends with me. But, I am naturally excitable and when my name got called during the second show I had no choice, but to scream and cheer for myself. I proceeded to get my picture taken and go on the stage with the four other people who were called for that round. I was asked some questions regarding my life and my interests. When I said that I was a bartender, the mock Pat Sajak asked me what my favorite drink to make was. I said beer, but they still called me to attend the final audition.

A while later, I went to a final audition in Milwaukee and I actually sat next to one of the women who was on stage with me at the first audition. During that audition, everyone only had one chance to call out a letter, and then we all had to take a timed exam that was similar to hangman. That was all they went by when they chose who to cut. I made it through that cut and the other people left standing and I pretended to spin a wheel while playing a round of the game. A few months later, I received a letter saying that I was chosen as a contestant and they would call me within the next eighteen months. I live in a small town, so word spread quickly. Everyone that I ran into repeatedly asked me when I was going to be on the show, and because I didn't hear any word from the game show, I eventually started to get discouraged and just avoided the topic of Wheel of Fortune because I wasn't sure if I was really going to be on the show. Then, one day I was in the underground level of my college talking to my sister on the phone. Because it's underground, I have very little reception, so I pretty much have to find one spot and stay in it if I want to hear. So, this really weird bill collector looking number beeps in on the call waiting. Jokingly, I said, "Laura, hold on this might be Wheel of Fortune." I clicked over and said, "Hello," about fifty times, and I couldn't hear anything so I clicked back over. The same number called back a few more times, but I couldn't get any reception. The last time they called, all I heard was Wheel of Fortune, and I freaked out. I thought that I had just lost my chance to be on the show. I was really scared, so I called the number back. When the Sony Studios operator answered I said that someone just called me from this number and she told me that it was just a wrong number. My heart dropped, but I recovered and explained to her that I was supposed to be on Wheel of Fortune. I finally connected with the woman that had been calling me and they gave me a two week notice to be in Los Angeles, California for the tape date.

I had never flown on a plane, been on a vacation, or really left the Midwest, so I knew that it was on. I took off of work, took off of school, booked the flights, reserved the hotel, found family to watch my daughter, and miraculously found two friends that would go with me on such short notice (thanks Jen and Katie!). This was the coolest experience of my life. All of the other contestants were really cool, and because of our shared experiences we all sort of molded into a Wheel of Fortune family. I am really lucky to have been able to have an experience like this. Thank you Sony Studios and Wheel of Fortune Productions for giving me this opportunity, and thanks for telling me about the audition Mom. I am so happy that I got to do this.

I don't know how long the link that contains the above will remain active, so I decided to post it above just to be sure.

If you want to see a picture of Linda's niece, here is a link with it which also has everything that I quoted above http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/wheel/contestant_diary.php?archiveID=69

 

[Linda Buquet]

Larry that was SOOOOOO cool of you to go find and post.
I've been so swamped I hadnt eben made time to go see if there
was anything up after the show.

Thanks SO much for posting that!
You are a doll!