Tuesday, September 25, 2001

Fortunate Frog
Game show winner’s family convinces WFAA 8 to air episode
Skiff Staff

Erin Kerns, a junior business major, and her mother said they were very upset Thursday evening when instead of showing Wheel of Fortune, WFAA Channel 8 ran a special show on the DART transportation rail system.

Kerns taped an episode of the game show in early July and won $1,000 Maybelline gift certificate, a $3,000 Macy’s gift certificate, $32,000 in cash and a yellow Volkswagen Beetle in the bonus round. But viewers in the Metroplex were not going to see the episode until Kern’s mother and grandfather called WFAA to complain.

“We had hundreds of people who were going to watch it,” said Susan Kerns, Erin’s mother. “We were very disappointed (when it didn’t come on).”

The show eventually ran Saturday night in the Metroplex.

Kerns said she waited until this weekend to reveal her winnings.

“I told only my close friends that I won,” Kerns said. “I told other people I got to the bonus round, but not what happened.”

Kerns said she has gotten some strange reactions from people who watch the show.

“Someone at the Variety Show came up to me and said she saw me on TV,” Kerns said. “At the football game on Saturday, the man sitting next to me wanted his picture taken with me because he said it was the closest he’d probably ever be to a celebrity.”

Kerns auditioned for Wheel of Fortune last year when the show searched for contestants on campus. Originally she auditioned with a friend but they did not get on the show when it taped in the Metroplex.

Kerns said three weeks after the auditions she received a letter saying Wheel of Fortune would contact her within 18 months to appear on the show in Los Angeles.

She received a call at the beginning of July.

Six shows were taped in one day and Kerns said she was the youngest person appearing on the show.

Technical difficulties during the bonus round stopped taping for 15 minutes while Wheel of Fortune officials decided whether or not to give Kerns a new puzzle. Kerns’ mother said there was confusion about the letters Erin picked for the puzzle in the bonus round.

Kerns said she didn’t know what the first puzzle was.

“I got the impression that none of the letters I guessed where supposed to be up there,” Kerns said. “I was just hoping they would give me a new puzzle because it would give me a second chance,”
Kerns said she knew the second puzzle, which was Garth Brooks, after guessing the letters B, H, and K.

Erin said she plans to spend some of her cash winnings to upgrade the car and to put away money for her MBA. She is now waiting for Wheel of Fortune to contact her to receive her winnings.

“The money, which will pay for a very small portion of my MBA, but its still $10,000 more than I normally have,” Erin said.