BEAVERCREEK TOWNSHIP — A long-time Greene County resident will be appearing on the popular TV game show “Wheel of Fortune” Tuesday night.
Erika Tate, a Beavercreek Township resident, will spin the wheel and maybe buy a vowel or two during the show, which airs at 7 p.m. on WHIO. She couldn’t share how she did but Tate said she and her husband, José, and daughter, Naomi Lockley, used the time to sneak in a little vacation.
“Really enjoyed the time out there,” Tate told the Gazette Monday. “Just really enjoyed everything.”
The taping took all day as six shows were filmed. Contestants arrived around 7 a.m. and finished around 6:30 p.m. Members of the audience were actually other contestants who weren’t involved in the game being taped at that time.
“You’re watching other people,” Tate said. “You couldn’t bring your family or anything like that.”
She originally auditioned about two years ago and didn’t hear back. She decided to try it again and was contacted to audition in November 2021. After 60 minutes of virtual games Tate was told she would hear back.
“Three weeks later they called me up,” she said. “I forgot about it.”
Tate was asked to head to LA in January, but José had gotten “some pretty good seats” for a Cleveland Cavaliers game so she didn’t go tape the show.
“My husband felt so bad about it,” Tate said. “I said don’t worry about it.”
Producers had some flexibility and with COVID cases going down Tate contacted them in February and was given a spot on stage in March.
One small spoiler alert: According to Sony Pictures Television Communications Manager Christopher Orenic, everyone selected to be on the show goes home with a minimum of $1,000.
For a complete recap of Tate’s time on the show, see Wednesday’s Gazette.
