When Jeana Pulaski checked her email Oct. 30, she started screaming.
Superstorm Sandy was raging, and Pulaski had been sitting with her family in the dark, deciding how to preserve their food or whether to stay in their home in Lawrence. But the email had given Pulaski a burst of happiness—she just learned she’d be traveling to Culver City, Calif. on Nov. 16 to film an episode of Wheel of Fortune.
The Notre Dame High School graduate has always had a knack for solving puzzles. As a child, she played hangman with her mother and watched Wheel of Fortune with her grandmother. And when her grandmother spent the morning figuring out the Word Jumble, Pulaski was there to help.
Pulaski, 26, hasn’t changed her routine. Every weeknight, she settles onto the couch at 7:30 and spends a half hour solving all the Wheel of Fortune puzzles before the contestants do, yelling out the answers and concentrating the whole time.
“When she went to college … you couldn’t call her when it was on,” her mother, Anita Pulaski, said.
“I was just really good at it, to be honest,” Pulaski said. “But when you’re sitting at home it’s a little bit easier, because it’s always your turn at home.”
So when she saw a commercial for open auditions last September with the Wheel of Fortune “Wheelmobile,” it was a no-brainer. Pulaski, along with her mother, aunt, and two grandmothers, traveled down to Atlantic City, where she was one of about 6,000 hopefuls to put her name in for consideration.
“It was one of those bucket list things people always have,” Anita Pulaski said. “She was so excited.”
The auditions consisted of a mock-Wheel of Fortune episode, and names were selected at random for each game (three games were played each of the two days). Pulaski and her family waited anxiously for a turn, as the games quickly dwindled down to the third one.
Pulaski couldn’t contain her excitement when, finally, her name was the second-to-last one called for Saturday’s auditions.
“She ran up, and she lost her flip flop,” Anita Pulaski said.
Pulaski’s main focus during auditions was to make sure she was loud enough.
“You could tell she just stood out,” said Mary Russo, Pulaski’s grandmother. “She just had a lot of personality and you know, you could tell she was quite at home.”
Pulaski was called back for a second audition in October, and finally got the call Oct. 30 that she’d be filming. The timing had worked out perfectly; Pulaski’s mother, two aunts and grandmother had planned a California vacation the same week as Pulaski’s Nov. 16 film date in Culver City, and opted to stay an extra two days for when Pulaski arrived with her boyfriend.
After two months of traveling, auditioning and waiting, the actual filming of the episode only took 20 minutes—and to Pulaski, felt like 10. The whirlwind of activity included focusing on the current puzzle, a used puzzle board and show host Pat Sajak, all while smiling and clapping. By the time Pulaski was able to fully concentrate, the first two puzzles were over.
“People tell you this beforehand, but you don’t understand it fully until you’re actually there doing it,” Pulaski said.
The day had begun at 7 a.m., when Pulaski and the other contestants gathered in the lobby and prepared to board a bus to the studio. Upon arrival, the rules of the game and how it works were explained, and the opportunity for questions provided a surprise to Pulaski.
“It was really shocking that some people had so many questions about how to play this game,” Pulaski said.
Many contestants inquired about the “free play” option on the wheel, which means the contestant can choose a vowel or consonant, for free.
The set was much smaller, though beautifully decorated, Pulaski said, and commercials breaks were used for pep talks, bottled water and retouching contestants’ special HD-TV makeup.
Even spinning the wheel was more difficult than it appeared; weighing in at 2,400 pounds, the wheel took most of Pulaski’s strength just to spin halfway around.
And for most of the game, it wasn’t very kind to her. Pulaski was hit with bad luck on several of her turns, more than once landing on ‘Bankrupt’ and ‘Lose a Turn.’
Finally Pulaski’s luck changed, when in five seconds, she solved the third toss-up puzzle, worth $3,000.
“I’m happy I solved a puzzle, and that’s what I really wanted to do,” she said.
Pulaski had hoped to donate her winnings to help individuals affected by Superstorm Sandy, but was disappointed she hadn’t won enough money to do so. Though she wasn’t allowed to disclose how much or little she won before the show aired—contestants must sign a waiver form they won’t spill the beans—Pulaski decided to use her 15 minutes of TV fame to continue raising money for the Sandy relief efforts.
Pulaski and her mother contacted American Legion Post 458 in Trenton and organized an event for Jan. 23, the night the episode aired. The pair spread the word through Facebook, flyers and knocking on township residents’ doors, and the Pulaskis saw their efforts pay off when 125 people showed up to the event.
More than 40 items were donated from local businesses to be auctioned off, and the event raised $2,500 for the One Simple Wish Hurricane Sandy fund.
“I wanted to know that specific people would be helped,” Pulaski said. “It’s so hard sometimes when you’re giving it to [organizations like] Red Cross, you don’t know who’s getting it.”
Pulaski had a special connection to many individuals affected by the storm. She graduated from Monmouth University in 2009 and went on to study at The Restaurant School in Philadelphia, before coming back to work as a pastry chef in Monmouth.
“At Monmouth, a lot of people I worked with, they lost their houses and lost their stuff,” she said.
The fundraising had been part of Pulaski’s goal since she learned she’d be on the show.
“She’s a very community-minded, give back kind of kid,” said Anita Pulaski, who noted her daughter often enjoys doing local volunteer work, too.
Pulaski can’t compete on Wheel of Fortune again, but in the spring, viewers might still catch a glimpse of her. Because of her use of the show to promote her Superstorm Sandy fundraising, she was selected to be featured in “Changing Lives,” a small clip that shows her efforts, her event and her competing on the show.
But Pulaski is not ready to give up on the world of game shows—she’s trying out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire next, and hopes to continue her gameshow appearances.
Pulaski is also still raising money for Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts. For more information, email her at jeana.pulaski@yahoo.com.
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