Game show limelight shines on UNC student

One of UNC’s students, Keatra Nesbitt, a junior math major, will be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune — the highest -rated show in syndication.

Nesbitt applied online to compete in the show in the summer of 2008.

“That particular summer, I got off work at 5, and my mom would come pick me up and we would go home and watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune every day that summer,” Nesbitt said. “It was like our ritual.”

In March 2009, she said she got called to audition in Denver in the first round of eliminations. Nesbitt passed both of the first two elimination rounds, moving on to a third round, where she played a smaller version of Wheel of Fortune with two other potential contestants.

“They said if you get a call within two weeks, you made it on the show,” Nesbitt said. “Right before spring break, I got a letter, and it said ‘congratulations you’re going be a contestant.’ I was so excited.”

Nesbitt is flying Wednesday to Culver City, Calif. and the filming will begin on Thursday  at Sony Studios. Nesbitt has a full day the studio arriving at 7 a.m. and staying until 6 p.m.
She said Wheel of Fortune does not film live, so the segment she will appear in won’t be aired on CBS until February or March. 

Nesbitt said growing up, she did a lot of word search races with her mom and watched Wheel of Fortune all of the time.

To prepare for her debut, Nesbitt said she has been playing the Wheel of Fortune game on a CD and online with a friend. She said she has been getting a lot of tips.

“I’m hoping if I win enough then that would help me pay for grad school or pay off any student loans that I have from undergrad,” Nesbitt said.

Nesbitt said she is excited to be on TV and thinks the experience will be a fun one.

“Even if I don’t win anything, I just think the experience is once in a lifetime, so I’m excited to go and have fun and be on TV,” she said.