Uniontown woman to appear on game show
Rochelle Miller of Uniontown will be with family and friends when she watches herself appear on the popular television game show “Wheel of Fortune’ on March 26. “My Mom and Dad are coming in from Ohio. Everybody I work with is coming,’ said Miller, 38, who is hosting a celebration that night at Smitty’s restaurant in North Union Township.
Wheel of Fortune, according to its Web site, “has been ranked the number one syndicated series on television for 23 years and currently, in its 24th season, attracts more than 46 million views a week.’
Miller, who works as a server at Golden Corral restaurant in South Union Township, has been a fan of “Wheel of Fortune’ since she was a child growing up in Lancaster, Ohio. She played the game on the Internet and the show sent her a notice about auditions that took place in Pittsburgh in October 2005. Miller was one of 60 people who showed up for the auditions.
After passing through the auditions, Miller received a letter of congratulations a week later, saying she had been selected for the show. She was told she would be contacted within 18 months for a taping date.
“It’s one of those phone calls you can’t wait to get and then when you get it, you’re not expecting it,’ Miller said during an interview January after being given a taping date.
Miller taped her appearance on Feb. 8; actually two weeks later than her original date after the taping was postponed when hostess and puzzle board operator Vanna White had a family emergency.
Miller was responsible for her own travel expenses, so she turned the trip to the Culver City, Calif., studio into a vacation, traveling with her daughters, Alison Severing, 17, and Chelsi Miller, 15, as well as her boyfriend, Karl Brookings, and his daughter, Karly Brookings, 11. They also spent a few days in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nev. Both Miller and her daughter Alison celebrated birthdays during the trip.
“It was amazing,’ Miller said of appearing on the show.
She enjoyed seeing White and host Pat Sajak.
“Vanna White is so down to earth and so nice. Pat doesn’t really talk a lot,’ she said.
But being a contestant isn’t as easy as some people might think.
“It’s so much easier sitting on a couch than it is on the studio,’ Miller said.
Although people have been asking, Miller is not divulging the outcome of her game.
Instead, she talks about playing the game, noting she was nervous and that “so many things are running through your head.’
Miller was on the first show that was taped that day – the game tapes six shows a day – so she left after her show and now is eager to see the shows of the other contestants who were with her that day.
“Even though we were only in a room together a few hours, all the contestants that day became immediate friends,’ she said. “…I don’t know what they won. I want to watch them on television. It’s going to be a surprise.’