‘Madesyn Mueller, come on down’
All my life I have dreamed of being a contestant on “The Price is Right.” My Mom promised me ever since I was 10 years old that we would go on the show together. Last year, my Mom and I decided we would go in October for our birthday month. We decided to go all out and make custom t-shirts. I came up with the saying on the shirt, “WE TRAVELED 1,580 MILES UP, TO COME ON DOWN $.”
We arrived at the studio at 6 a.m., Oct. 3, 2016. We were number 11 and 12 out of 300 people in line. Once they finally let us in at 8 a.m. we had to fill out around 10 pages of paperwork. The interview process was next. The show interviews groups of 20-30 people, by going down the line asking individual questions such as “Where are you from?” and “What do you do for a living?”.
When the interviews were over, we all went through security and into a waiting area. After several more hours of waiting, we finally entered the studio. When ushers escorted us to our seats my Mom and I were dancing to the music and making complete fools out of ourselves. The amount of energy and excitement that I had was overwhelming, exploding from my body. Unfortunately, neither my mom nor I got picked to play.
When the ushers were escorting us out of the studio we overheard several other people talking about staying for the second taping and decided to stay too. We waited for another hour to be interviewed again. When the interviewer finally got around to me, he asked “Tell me something unique about yourself?” I quickly and confidently replied, “We are from Texas, where the weather is hot, but the women are hotter.” Everybody in the interview line started dying laughing including the interviewer. I felt more confident that I would get picked this time . . . and I did.
The show started five minutes after we were seated and George Gray, the announcer, called out three names. All of a sudden I heard, “Come on Madesyn Mueller.” My body went into spasm mode and I flew from my seat to contestants row.
The host Drew Carey comes out and says hi to everybody and then Gray announces the first prize for contestants row to bid on: four pairs of Kate Spade shoes. My mind was racing a hundred miles an hour. The first three people bid, and then was my turn. I knew the shoes were expensive, so I bid one dollar above the highest bidder, $1,226. When Carey said the price, $1,486, I knew I won without them telling me.
I flew up so fast on stage that I blacked out for a moment. Instead of greeting Carey with a nice hug or handshake, I jumped on him like a spider monkey. After my over the top greeting, still wearing a huge smile on my face, I finally introduced myself, then Gray explained the game and the prizes I would be playing for. The game was to pick the wrong price: a scooter, television, and a washer and dryer set. I picked the television, but it was the scooter that was mispriced.
After the game was over they took me to backstage. I knew I had another chance to win more money spinning the wheel, hoping and praying I would land on a dollar to win $1,000. I couldn’t stop smiling, even though I did not win the wrong price game, and my was heart beating 1,000,000 times a minute. When the second game was over, they brought me and another contestant back on stage to spin the big wheel. After the third contestant was done playing the game, the staff escorted us to the wheel. The first person spins 80, next person spins an 85. Then it’s my turn, I grabbed the handles, dropped my body all the way down and spun that wheel as hard as I could. I gave shoutouts to family and friends as the wheel was spinning and I landed on a 50. I spin one more time, and landed on an 85. Right under the 85 was a 50. I was one slot away winning $1,000.
When the show was over, all the contestants were escorted to a green room area where we signed confidentiality agreement papers. We could tell no one we were a contestant on “The Price is Right”, until after the show aired. Even though I didn’t win, my Mom was so excited for me, but I knew she secretly wanted a pair of the Kate Spade shoes.
The show recently aired Feb. 8. The worst part was keeping this whole experience a secret from my friends and family for four months. Unfortunately, I will have to wait another 10 years to be a contestant on “The Price is Right” again, but I will be back in 2026!
Video courtesy of CBS Television Network
