D.C. real estate agent Latrice Strader grew up watching “Wheel of Fortune” with her parents. Now the 44-year-old single mother of three is a contestant.
Ms. Strader, a 1995 graduate of H.D. Woodson High School, says her children encouraged her to try out for the show by submitting a video online — and the resulting experience was thrilling and terrifying.
“I hope I did the D.C. public school system and my parents proud,” she said in an interview. “And I hope I represented D.C. well, because I’ve lived here my entire life.”
In an episode that airs Wednesday on ABC, she competed for luxury vacations as part of the show’s Disney Secret Santa week, which allows viewers at home to win the same prizes as contestants.
Her episode was recorded Oct. 14 at the show’s studio in Culver City, California, without a live audience or family present due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“It was life-altering, it was thrilling, but it was more thrilling after it was over and I could process it,” Ms. Strader said. “It was like here’s this little girl from D.C. at this show. I don’t know any other individual who has gone on this show.”
Ms. Strader, who records the syndicated game show every night, said she watched “Wheel of Fortune” episodes and played the show’s app game to prepare.
“I’d seen people fumble on the show, and I didn’t want to be the next meme,” Ms. Strader said, laughing. “I told myself I had to block out the cameras, play the game, and not embarrass myself on national television.”
During the five hours of preparation at the studio on the day of filming, she said hostess Vanna White dropped by to help the contestants relax, telling them to take their time and “don’t give up.”
She said that everyone from the camera crew to Pat Sajak, who has hosted “Wheel” since 1981, helped make her feel at home after weeks of stomachaches and nerves.
“Pat has a cool personality and I love his sarcasm,” she said.
Fears of fumbling and uncertainty about how to audition kept her from trying out for the show until her 16-year-old son encouraged her to submit a one-minute audition video online in May.
On Aug. 10, she had a live Zoom tryout that secured her spot on the show.
“I watch this show every day, I’m solving puzzles on it, but now it was ‘game on’ and I had the pressure in front of an audience to kick this field goal,” Ms. Strader said, noting that her family has seen her “yelling at the television” during the show for years.
But she‘s keeping it a secret even from her family how she did on the episode that airs Wednesday. Neither her son nor her two older daughters in Atlanta know if she won a dream vacation or the $1,000 consolation prize that every contestant receives as a minimum.
“They don’t have a clue,” she said, chuckling again. “I can’t wait to see it myself.”
Ms. Strader, who also works as a hairstylist, notes that her father died in 2019 and her mother in 2018.
