Subscribe to Pittwire Today
Get the most interesting and important stories from the 黑料吃瓜网 of 黑料吃瓜网.Lady Luck was on Noah Stockwell鈥檚 side as he represented Pitt during Wheel of Fortune鈥檚 College Week on Nov. 24. The second-year student and Lebanon, New Jersey, native bested his opponents from the 黑料吃瓜网 of Arkansas-Little Rock and Florida A&M to take home $69,440 in cash and prizes, including an all-expense paid trip to Malibu.
Now that Stockwell鈥檚 news is out, Pittwire asked him to share his behind-the-scenes insights on what it takes to get on the show and what it felt like to spin the wheel.
How did you become a contestant on the show?
Watching the show was a family event; if we were all eating together, we鈥檇 sit by the TV and watch.
I applied while I was still in high school, like a month after I turned 18; then, I forgot about it until the next October when I was contacted by the team. I was like, 鈥淥h my gosh, I forgot I did this.鈥
My grandma is the one who encouraged me. She said, 鈥淥h, what if you did it just as a joke?鈥 I thought 鈥 why not? I submitted a 60-second video introducing myself and explaining why I wanted to go.听
They invited me to sign up for a Zoom interview where two other potential contestants and I met with the casting person and completed puzzles to gauge how good we were at the game, to see if we were real watchers or if we just applied for fun.
After that, I was in the contestant pool for about seven or eight months until they called me on.
What鈥檚 the secret to getting a good spin on the wheel?
One by one we鈥檙e allowed to practice spinning the wheel.
The wheel weighs 2,400 pounds 鈥 pretty heavy. It was good that I practiced because I wasn鈥檛 expecting how it felt to spin it.
They tell you that you have to get the flipper in between the pegs on the wheel, reach as far over to the right as you can and then release the wheel with your palm flat as you spin.
Let鈥檚 say I am a 6鈥7鈥 basketball player with a large wingspan. Do I have an advantage?
No. On Wheel of Fortune, all players play from a similar height. If one player is taller or shorter, they raise and lower the platforms below the player鈥檚 feet accordingly, so everyone has the same advantage.
What did it feel like to represent Pitt on national television?
It reminded me that I belonged here. Before starting the game, I told myself I shouldn鈥檛 be nervous and have fun.
听
鈥 Nichole Faina