Second Ferndale resident in six weeks to appear on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Tuesday night
Though it’s only a little more than 100 miles away, Keenan Souve said he was surprised to run into two other Ferndale residents at the “Wheel of Fortune” auditions held last October in Seattle.
One of those Ferndale residents, Taya Somes, appeared on the game show Feb. 26, fulfilling a dream she told The Bellingham Herald she’d had since she was young.
Souve also was lucky enough to be selected from the Seattle auditions and is scheduled to appear on the show when it airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, on Channel 4.
And the third Ferndale resident?
“I’m not sure they made it — I’ve been watching every night, and I haven’t seen them, yet,” Souve told The Herald. “But still, to get two people on from our town, that’s pretty impressive.”
Watching every night is something Souve, who graduated from Ferndale High School in 2016, said he’s been doing since he was 6 or 7 years old.
“I remember watching it growing up, and I told my mom I was going to be on there one day,” Souve said.
It was that dream that inspired him to make the 250-mile drive from Pullman, where Souve is attending Washington State University as a junior civil egineering major.
Souve actually will get to represent the Cougars during the show’s “College Week.”
“It was an honor to represent my school,” Souve said. “This is my first year at Wazzo after transferring from Whatcom (Community College). It was my first time representing Wazzu. Pullman is a pretty small town, too, and so many people found out.”
Souve said he was initially planning to hold a watch party in Pullman with his friends, who he said have been hounding him for information on how he did — “Everyone is trying to figure out how much I won, and that’s the one thing I’m not allowed to say — they want to keep that a surprise for when you watch the show,” Souve said.
But with WSU moving all classes to online due to the coronavirus pandemic, he returned home to stay with his family in Ferndale.
His watch party will now include just close family — even his sister isn’t planning to attend so that she can practice good social distancing — though Souve said he plans to video chat and text with a number of friends and family who can’t make it.
Filming took place in early February at the show’s Culver City, California, studio.
“It was a super cool experience,” he told The Herald. “Pat and Vanna (show hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White) were super cool. They want you to have a good time. They kept saying, just calm down and focus on the puzzles, which wasn’t easy to do.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 12:34 PM.
