By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch This week, Michelle Andersen is the biggest television star from Eatonville. Okay, she's the only one. But a star she is as one of the contestants on "Wheel of Fortune.Gǥ She tried out for the iconic, nationally syndicated game show in a series of auditions that started last October at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma and was picked (believed to be a first for Eatonville residents) to go to Los Angeles in January for the filming of her episode, which is scheduled to air Thursday night at 7 p.m. on the KOMO-TV affiliate (channel 4) of ABC. The show, a television staple since the mid-1970s, has had two lives. It started in 1975 as a daytime series on NBC and later CBS and was canceled in 1991. During that period, a syndicated nightly edition premiered in 1983 and has carried on ever since. Its 6,000-plus episodes make it the longest-running (and often most-watched) syndicated game show in the U.S. The simple but popular format has contestants spin a wheel and guess letters to solve word puzzles and win cash prizes that can reach well into the tens of thousands of dollars. A contractual obligation prevents contestants from disclosing pre-broadcast how much she won, but contestants can talk about their experience, which Andersen did with The Dispatch. Dispatch: What led you to auditioning for the show? Are you a regular watcher or good at solving word puzzles? Andersen: I have three very busy teenagers who are active in sports, so I'm in my car a lot. Back in October, I happened to be listening to the radio and I heard that the "Wheel of FortuneGǥ Wheelmobile traveling RV was going to be at the Emerald Queen Casino holding auditions for two nights. I've watched the show since I was a little girl. Our family enjoys it, as well. With such busy schedules, it's hard to find a night when we're all home at the same time. So when we can, the kids love a fun little thing we call wheel and waffle Wednesday. Once a month or so, we make breakfast for dinner and watch "WheelGǥ or play (the video version) on the PS3. I've always been good at word puzzles, competed in spelling bees, etc. So when this opportunity came up to go audition, I immediately texted my best friend Sarah and said not to plana mom's-night-out. She replied back, "I'm in.' Dispatch: Were you nervous during auditions or the taping of your episode? Andersen: I wasn't nervous during auditions, mainly because I didn't really know what to expect. Usually when I get nervous I get sick. But because I didn't know much of what to expect, I was okay. I called the Emerald Queen to ask how it all worked. They told me the last time the Wheelmobile had come through back in 2011, there were 4,000 people who auditioned over the two-day period. I was shocked. Sarah and I decided to get down there at 10 a.m. rather than an hour early. This turned out to be a waste. Even though we were the very first in line, it made no difference. The only way you were called up on stage for an audition was by the luck of the draw. We filled out a slip of paper and put into a big raffle drum. It was all left up to luck. Well, the next day I was so exhausted from the day before, I put my 2-year-old down for a nap and crawled into bed myself and my phone rang. It was my mom, calling to tell me she and my dad were on their way to babysit so I could return to audition. I went to the first game of the three that night, my name got pulled out of the drum and I made it. The contestant people back in LA saw my tape and a month later I scrolled through my junk e-mail and there was a message for a second audition in Seattle. They were looking for couples. My husband isn't a puzzle person, so I called and asked if Sarah and I could try out for Best Friends week. They said yes and up we went three days later. We spent those days practicing. We downloaded apps, played on the PS3 together. We went up to Seattle and were definitely nervous. We had three hours of intense puzzle-solving and five-minute written tests. The contestants went from 4,000 at the Emerald Queen to about 80 up in Seattle, then they said they'd only take the top 20. We both made the cut. After that, we were told we'd find out by letter in the mail if we made the show. I was feeling pretty confident because they told us they were looking for couples and also anyone who had been to anything Disney. Well, my husband and I had been married in Disneyland, we'd taken the kids to Disneyland, Disneyworld and just recently gotten back from Disney Aulani in Hawaii. So I was hoping that would give me a leg up. I checked the mail every day for 2 weeks, and on the 16th day and saw a letter with a big, bold print WOF and jumped up and down screaming in my street. I'd made it. Unfortunately, my friend did not. The letter stated I'd be put in a 18-month contestant pool. This was November. But by Dec. 18 I got the call. They asked me to be on Disney Week and I had only four hours to make my decision because they were going to be out of the office for Christmas and New Year break and we would be filming Jan. 14. We all went down there with no expectations. You win $1,000 just for showing up. Dispatch: Is it easier to play the game watching on TV? It seems like it would be easier to focus when there aren't distractions like an audience or TV lights. Andersen: It's definitely easier to play the game on TV. I've always been that one who yells at the TV contestant who calls the same letter that's already been called or who keeps spinning instead of solving the puzzle when it's clearly solvable. I will be that person no more. I will forever watch the program differently. Until you go through this process behind the scenes, you will never truly know what those three people up on those podiums go through. It's months of rigorous audition processes. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They only let you be on the show once. It's 22 minutes that fly by. The distractions are like no other with the lights and cameras, I do feel like I had a leg up on my competitors in that area. I grew up on-stage. I was a ballet dancer and performed in productions like "NutcrackerGǥ and recitals for Ballet Tacoma, so I was comfortable in that regard. But when you're trying to follow all the producer's directions, spin, yell the letter like they want, move your eyes from the big puzzle board to the 42-inch TV screen with the used letters GǪ It is so intensely stressful and fast-paced. It makes perfect sense now why people call the same letters and think words are there that aren't. I will be very sympathetic from now on. Dispatch: How were your interactions with co-hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White? Do they come across in person the same way as they seem on TV? Andersen: Pat and Vanna were great. They were just as you see on TV. Pat is witty and funny. Vanna is sweet and kind. You know who else is amazing? Jim Thornton, the announcer. You think he's just the guy with the cool voice in the little glass booth. But during commercial breaks and in between shows, he's out with the audience entertaining them, doing trivia, giving away prizes and signing autographs. My kids got lots of cool stuff. When you asked me earlier if I was nervous, I said no. But for my "Pat Chat," oh boy, now that's a whole other question. I was terrified to talk to Pat (which contestants do in a brief on-camera interview at the start of a show). As far as Vanna, she was a breeze. We didn't have to talk to her - on-camera, that is. But she did just pop in the first 10 minutes we were there backstage. All of a sudden the door opens up and this slender lady just comes walking in with a grey pink sweatsuit on and white sneakers, wet hair slicked back into a bun and a white scrunchy wrapped around it, no makeup, holding a bowl of doughnuts. She said "Hi y'all!Gǥ She said this is what I look like without my hair on and said just relax and have fun and left. We never saw her again until the shows started taping. Pat never came in. We never really got to meet him until we stepped up to the podiums and the taping started. Dispatch: Was this your first experience trying out for or being on a game show? Andersen: First time trying out for "Wheel of Fortune,Gǥ but not my first experience trying out for a game show. I went to LA for my 18th birthday and went to a taping of "The Price is RightGǥ for fun. I got to talk to (host) Bob Barker during a commercial break, but didn't get called up on stage for a game. Dispatch: Tell us a little about you and your family--where you grew up, how many kids of your own, your occupation, your personal interests or hobbies. Andersen: I grew up in the North End of Tacoma. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in. I have an older sister and two older brothers . I'm married to my amazing husband Jens. We have four incredible kids - our son Hunter, who's 16, twins Sierra and McKenna, who are 13, and our youngest daughter, Chanel-Elise, who's 2. We moved out to Eatonville a few years ago from Puyallup, where my husband grew up and where his parents and brother still live. We love it out here. We're a very active family. We love wakeboarding, wakesurfing and innertubing. I took a break from the corporate world, where I was a regional trainer and auditor, so I could just be a mom for a while. And we are all huge Seahawks fans. Go Hawks!
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