By Scott Buttram
While serving as the wife of Pinson’s mayor may be some what of a supporting role to her husband Hoyt Sanders, Cande Sanders will be front and center this Tuesday when she makes an appearance on the “Wheel of Fortune” game show. She is sworn to secrecy about the outcome of the game, but Sanders was able to share her experience.
Pinson’s Cande Sanders will appear on “Wheel of Fortune” on Tuesday.
photo courtesy of Carol Kaelson
“I had loved game shows since I was a kid and had always wanted to be on one,” Sanders said. “One day I just said, ‘Well, why not?'”
With that, she began the process by filling out an online application for the “Wheel of Fortune.” By the end of May she received an email requesting that she submit a picture and video of herself.
“I looked at the dates and realized that if I was going to do this, I had to move fast, so I sent the picture and video to them,” Sanders said.
It was long before she heard back from the show and was invited to an audition in Atlanta on June 12 and 13.
“They really did a great job of explaining the process and they were very detailed,” Sanders said. “Everything went exactly like they said it would and I was very impressed with the way they prepared us for everything.”
Sanders went through a verbal audition, took a written test and then waited as half of the invitees were cut from the group. A second audition followed where potential contestants pretended to spin the wheel and call out letters as they would on the show. She left Atlanta not knowing if she would make the final cut.
“They told us that we would receive a letter by U.S. mail two weeks before the taping if we were selected,” Sanders said. “That’s exactly what happened. I received a letter nine days later telling me the taping would be in Los Angeles.”
Before leaving for the taping, only Sanders’ husband and two best friends knew she was going. But as the trip grew closer a few others were told out of necessity.
“I might have gotten out there and been told that I wasn’t what they were looking for,” Sanders said.
Sanders said she was impressed that everyone she encountered had gone through the exact same process and said the experience was a positive one.
Meeting Pat Sajak and Vanna White was a treat, especially their down-to-earth demeanor.
“They were just as nice and ordinary as they could be. Everyone on the set was nice and they genuinely wanted you to win.”
The Wheel of Fortune airs locally each weeknight at 6:30 p.m. on ABC 33/40.
