Vanna White and Pat Sajak won’t be the only people worth watching on Wheel of Fortune in the next two weeks.
Recent Cal Poly graduate Jason Neubauer and microbiology senior Mike Toole were invited to compete in the game show after auditioning during spring break last year when the Wheel Mobile came to the Golden Hills Auto Center in Paso Robles. The two said they got the idea to compete on the show after seeing a commercial on television that said the show was looking for new contestants in the area.
“We were like ‘Dude, we have to at least try,'” Toole said. “And just the fact that they were giving money away for free, that was pretty motivational right there.”
But simply attending the audition in Paso Robles didn’t mean they would get their chance to compete. The two were randomly selected to compete in a mock game of Wheel of Fortune with life-sized cut-outs of Sajak and White and answer questions about themselves. After a successful first round, the casting directors invited Neubauer and Toole back for a second round audition held at The Cliffs Resort a week later. The second round was the last chance for competitors to show off their personalities and knowledge to a group of casting directors and a producer. In addition to more questioning, the competitors also had to complete a five-question written test. Neubauer said the two men had no real strategy going into the second round of auditions except to be themselves.
“Basically, we were just hoping to get picked,” Neubauer said. “We heard them ask a couple questions like where you’re from, so we just kind of thought of witty and funny answers so that we could stand out. Just something to set yourself apart from the rest of the field; it’s like a job interview.”
The crew of casting directors must have liked what they saw in Neubauer and Toole, because a week and a half later, both men received phone calls inviting them to compete in the actual show. Before going on the show though, both men wanted to tell their parents. It was just getting their parents to believe them that was the difficult part.
“I’ve told them so many ridiculous things in my life they were like ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,'” Toole said. “Then I brought home the letter and they were like, ‘That’s sweet.'”
In the months that followed until their taping in November, they studied by playing a Wheel of Fortune cell phone application, a book of practice puzzles titled “Winning on the Wheel” and by watching the show every single night. But practicing for the show had nothing on the excitement of actually being on air.
“It’s the most incredible feeling in the world,” Neubauer said. “When you actually get to the show, there’s nothing that describes the feeling of nervousness and excitement. You can’t believe that you’re there and you’re actually playing for real money, which is even funnier.”
The two men weren’t the only ones experiencing butterflies in their stomach that day. Neubauer’s mom, Diane, said she and her husband were “very nervous” for their son prior to the show. Their biggest piece of advice to their son? Don’t choke.
“He kind of does choke so when he does, we looked at each other like ‘Oh no, this is not going to happen.’ But he did fine,” she said. “We thought he was doing really well and then one of the opponents, she was doing better and we thought she was going to beat him but the girl hit bankruptcy.”
Trepidation aside, both men were eager to meet Sajak and White. Toole said that Sajak was good at making the contestants feel comfortable and that White was “timeless” and “beautiful.” It was Sajak’s wit that had Neubauer so anxious to meet him.
“When I talked to (White), she was talking about how she knits backstage during puzzles,” Neubauer said. “I was more excited to meet Pat than I was to meet Vanna because I think Pat’s more witty and I wanted to be witty with him. I was actually in the first position so I was next to Pat the whole time.”
Both men lost in the bonus round but still walked away with a considerable amount of winnings totaling $47,000 between them in cash and prizes. Free money or not, participating on the game show was an adventure worthwhile for Toole.
“It’s petty surreal you know? The whole time you’re just sitting there thinking ‘Wow, it’s Pat Sajak. I just shook hands with Vanna White.’ It was very cool. It was definitely an experience I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Toole said.
The Wheel of Fortune episode with Neubauer airs on Jan. 27 and the episode with Toole airs on Feb. 4 on KSBY.