Milton got a shout-out on the “Wheel of Fortune” television game show Monday.
A Class of 1996 Milton High School graduate was a contestant on the show.
John Makely lives in Los Angeles and has been trying to be on “America’s Game” for about 10 years. He grew up watching the show with his mom, Kathy Boguszewski of Milton, and his younger sister.
The wait to be on the show was worth it for Makely, who took home prizes worth $23,560, including a $8,600 trip to St. Lucia.
Makely made it to the bonus round but was stumped by “GALA AFFAIR.” The answer to the puzzle in the event category.
“I was close but didn’t get it,” he said after the show aired.
He had GA-A and A--A-R.
Although he didn’t solve it and said he could kick himself for losing out on an additional $38,000, all in all “it was probably one of the best experiences of my life.”
Makely was invited to an open audition in November, solved a puzzle and won a Vanna White autographed picture. About two weeks later, he received a letter saying he would be in the contestant pool.
“If you live in Los Angeles, they like you to be an alternate,” he said during a telephone interview Thursday.
Makely was an alternate the last day before production was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Shortly after he had heard the show would begin taping again, he was contacted to be a contestant Aug. 19.
About 30 minutes of taping felt like five, he said, “It went by so quickly.”
He said he enjoyed meeting Pat Sajak and Vanna White.
“Vanna was amazing and said hi to all the contestants before the show, before putting her makeup on,” he said. Behind the scenes, Makely estimated he saw 30 to 40 people working.
“I was surprised how many people were involved in the filming: the camera people, the production people, the casting people,” he said.
To prepare for the show, Makely said, he and his 10-year-old daughter watched about 100 shows the week before.
Makely is married with two kids and manages a recruiting firm in Los Angeles. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf, tennis and walking his dog, Badger. Makely applied to be a contestant online at WheelofFortune .com with a video submission and hopes to use any winnings toward traveling with his wife.
A news release introducing the show’s 38th season says there have been some big changes. The Wheel was redesigned to extend the platform surrounding the Wheel to allow 6 feet of space between Sajak and each of the contests. A new curved monitor surrounds the Wheel. Each contestant is given his or her own spinning cap, which Sajak calls, “The White Thing.” The cap fits over each spoke on the Wheel so contestants can spin the Wheel without touching it.
September 21, 2020 at 04:00PM
https://www.gazettextra.com/news/local/update-milton-high-grad-wins-23-560-on-wheel-of-fortune/article_c999d56f-308a-5c22-ad23-7c13d2dcf93e.html
UPDATE: Milton High grad wins $23560 on 'Wheel of Fortune' - Gazettextra
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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