Ferndale resident fulfills lifelong dream to compete on ‘Wheel of Fortune’
After waiting for her opportunity to compete on “Wheel of Fortune” since she was young, Ferndale’s Taya Somes said finally getting on the show was, “the quickest half hour of my life.”
Somes will be one of three contestants on the episode that will air at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, on Channel 4, as part of the game show’s “National Parks” week.
“It was everything I expected and more,” Somes told The Bellingham Herald. “It was even more exciting than I thought. The nerves were definitely there, and the staff was really incredible. ... When you’re there, everything just goes by so fast.”
Somes, who owns online women’s clothing boutique Allteek.com, was unable to speak about the episode, itself, before it airs, but said she was part of taping in late January in Culver City, California.
She only learned that she would get the opportunity two weeks earlier, but said she, her husband and their three oldest children jumped at the chance to travel south.
“I think they were probably as nervous as I was,” Somes said about her family watching her during the taping. “They loved it, though.”
Somes said she has dreamed of being on the show since she was young and even previously auditioned to compete. This time, the show required she submit a one- to two-minute video as part of her audition on wheeloffortune.com, and she was invited to Seattle for a second audition.
“It’s something I always wanted to do,” Somes told The Herald. “I’ve watched the show since, literally, I was little — pretty much my whole life. I think I’m pretty good at puzzles, so this was something I always wanted to do.”
