Growing up in Grand Marais, Ahna Schulte was a big fan of Wheel of Fortune and always dreamed of being a contestant on the game show. Today Ahna lives and teaches in Denver, Colorado and when there was a local casting call for the show, she turned out with about 1,000 other hopeful contestants. As luck and skill would have it, Ahna’s dream came true after a rigorous selection process and she was picked to appear on the show.
Mark your calendars, Ahna Schulte will appear on Wheel of Fortune on Thursday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m. on KJBR, channel 6.
The daughter of Craig and Lynn Schulte of Grand Marais, Ahna said she has been a fan of Wheel of Fortune for a long, long time. “I’ve been watching it since I was little with my grandparents, John and Mary McElevey,” said Ahna from her Denver home.
In her second year as a kindergarten teacher at Bradley International School, Ahna went to an open audition to appear on Wheel of Fortune in Denver last May.
“I went to an open casting call at the Denver Coliseum. The first addition was all luck. We played a mock round of the game. They put your name on a card and put it in a huge drum, spun it around and picked out names. I was lucky enough to have my name picked.”
She didn’t hear anything until August when she was contacted for the second audition. Ahna learned 140 out of 1,000 who tried out were called back.
Contestants played another mock round at a Sheraton Hotel ballroom and took a 5-minute test. “It was really hard,” she said. “I filled out 70 percent of the test and I was really nervous until I heard other people say they didn’t even get half of it done. They graded the test right there and kept 26 of us,” explained Ahna.
Contestants played more mock rounds and were asked to introduce themselves.
“When we were done they said we would get a letter in one month telling us how we did. I didn’t hear anything back in one month and I kind of gave up hope. I figured I didn’t get picked for the show, but six to seven weeks later I got a confirmation letter. I was one of 15 people from the Denver area selected.
“One reason they said I was picked was because they liked my energy. I also think they look at demographics and picked a wide range of people,” added Ahna.
Wheel of Fortune films four times per month, shooting four of five episodes per day. For those who have never watched, contestants guess hidden phrases by choosing letters one at a time. They win money or prizes, as determined by the wheel they spin, for each correct consonant they guess. Contestants have to pay to purchase vowels, and the person who guesses the most correct answers wins the game.
The day of filming can be grueling, but Ahna said contestants were given coaches who fed them and helped them keep loose. Ahna said she appeared in the fourth episode of the day, and it helped her to watch the other contestants as they appeared on the show before her. While watching it seemed that the game went slow, but she said, “When I was on, the time just flew by. I hardly remember it.”
“We all cheered for each other. It’s really not a competitive show. Vanna White came in and talked to all of us before she went to make-up. She was incredibly nice, very genuine, and wished us all luck. Pat Sajak was good at making us feel comfortable during the breaks. He was also really nice.”
Ahna said her greatest fear was, “Not looking like an idiot. But I think I did okay.”
When asked if the wheel was hard to spin, Ahna replied, “Yes, it’s hard to spin. It’s heavy. I feel like I’m decently strong, but it was hard for me. The wheel has thin metal blades to grab onto and pull, which are hard to hold and pull. Plus, the wheel weighs 2,400 pounds. It’s actually pretty hard to spin.”
On the show everyone looks like they are all about the same height, but that is accomplished because people stand on different sized risers to give the TV viewers the impression they are all equal height, said Schulte.
“Vanna is actually taller than I thought she was,” said Ahna. “And Pat is actually kind of short.”
Ahna’s grandmother Mary passed away before she appeared on the show, but Ahna said, “She knew I went to the first audition. I got a picture of me with a couple who looked like Pat and Vanna—kind of a pseudo Pat and Vanna that were there for the first audition—and sent it to her. She’s my guardian angel.”
During her introduction, Ahna said she gave a nice plug for Grand Marais. “I hope they didn’t cut it.”
As for how successful she was at Wheel of Fortune, Ahna said, “I can’t tell anyone. I guess people are going to have to watch to see.”
Leave a Reply