A Beaufort woman will appear on ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ Here’s when to watch
A Beaufort woman will compete for cash and prizes on a popular television game show airing soon.
Ellen Turso will appear on “Wheel of Fortune” at 7 p.m. Thursday on Savannah television station WSAV. The Mossy Oaks resident filmed the spot in February, more than a year after she and her husband, Patrick, recorded an audition video for the show.
Turso, 56, said she remembers watching the show with her grandmother growing up and has been a fan off and on for years.
Still, competing from the couch did not prepare her for the stage lights.
“My mind was in a whirlwind,” Turso said. “... When you’re there, you don’t have as much time to look at the puzzles as you do when you’re at home. You’re so preoccupied with everything else going on. But it was a lot of fun.”
Turso and her husband submitted a video through the television show’s website in January 2019, originally aiming for a couples-themed filming, and later auditioned for the show at an event in Savannah.
Turso first got called to a filming in September but couldn’t make the date.
She went back into a pool of contestants and found out she had been selected again shortly before filming in February.
Turso paid her way to stay a couple of nights in Los Angeles, where she met Vanna White backstage while getting the makeup treatment with other contestants.
The results of the show are under wraps until it airs.
Turso said she began the process hoping to win one of the travel prizes.
She said she, her husband and friends might watch the show on the deck at Fishcamp on 11th Street in Port Royal if weather permits Thursday.
While Turso said she enjoyed the experienced, she isn’t looking forward to her television debut.
“If I had my way, it would never be on TV,” she said. “I just wanted to do it, not necessarily anyone to see me.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2020 at 2:35 PM.
