Local man on Wheel of Fortune

A local man had the opportunity to be a guest on Wheel of Fortune. Lee Mack Turner, who lives between Shiner and Yoakum, won $7,700 when he was on the show Sep. 7 in Los Angeles. The show aired on television Nov. 8.

“It was very exciting. I hit several bankruptcies in the beginning,” Turner said. “I didn’t win anything until the final toss up round. I guessed ‘cheese grader’ as the answer. Then in the final round I guessed “highly recommended” after the contestant before me said ‘highly referrable.’ That gave me the extra edge.”

The application process took some time for Turner.

I’ve been vying to get on Wheel of Fortune for quite a while. I watch it all the time and at the end of every show it tells you what to do if you want to be a contestant,” Turner said. “I was actually a student at Texas A&M when I applied for it five years ago. I remember telling my family that I entered to be a contestant. I never heard anything from them, but then I graduated. Earlier this year, I decided to submit another application because I really wanted to be on this show. Once I turned in my application, I used the same email and got a message saying you cannot apply twice. Finally, within a day or two, I received another email saying I’ve been selected to audition. I was like, ‘how cool is that!’”

There were four phases of the audition process, according to Turner. He claims one of the reasons why he was able to get on the show is because he is a veteran.

“In the audition, I spoke with the producers. In one of the phases, they gave me a puzzle test and I was able to pass that,” Turner said. “Later, they asked me to send them a copy of my DD2-14 to confirm I am a veteran. The day after I sent that, they selected me to be on the show. I’m 68 and was a veteran in the mid-70s.”

Over a million people apply to be on Wheel of Fortune every year. Out of those million people, they select ten thousand just to audition and then 600 people get picked to be on the show. So, the odds were very slim for Turner.

Turner got to the studio bright and early in the morning. For the first half of the day, he had to sign papers in the Jeopardy studio.

“I knew it would be later in the day before we were going to be in the show. So, I carried my stage clothes in my bag. It was nice shirt, nice vest and slacks,” “But, I went there initially in a plaid shirt and a cowboy hat. I wanted them to know Texas was in the house. I was pretty sure they weren’t going to let me wear that hat on the stage. One producer said my shirt was too busy and I probably wouldn’t be able to wear that hat on stage. But then, another producer looked at me and said, ‘that hat stays!’ ”

Being on this show has made Turner into a local celebrity.

“Being on the show has certainly made me popular in the area. I’m getting a bunch of friend requests now on Facebook,” Turner said.

Turner was glad he got the opportunity to be on this show and would do it again in a heartbeat.