For three years, Jewish St. Louisan Rachael Stark did the same quiet ritual once every 12 months: she applied to be a contestant on TV’s “Wheel of Fortune.”
And for three years, she waited.
“I’ve been applying once a year for the last three years,” Stark said. “I made it to the first phase, the second phase — Zoom interviews where you play games with other possible contestants — and then I didn’t hear back for a long time. Then in September I got an email saying, ‘This is your film date. Please be in L.A. on this day.’”
The persistence wasn’t random.
Stark grew up watching “Wheel of Fortune” with her parents and later made it part of her routine with her husband. Game shows, she said, have always fascinated her — everyday people stepping into bright lights for a few minutes of national attention.
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“It’s just such a cool concept,” she said. “You’re taking regular people and kind of throwing them into the spotlight.”
The date was only a couple of weeks away.
Be in L.A. on this day
So Stark, a 30-year-old National Guard captain and reserve officer with the Ballwin Police Department, told her boss she needed time off and she and her husband, Sean Schmidt, took off for Los Angeles for what she described as “40 whirlwind hours.” She also had to keep the reason for the trip a secret.
“Yes,” she said, laughing, when asked whether she had to keep it quiet. “I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing.”
Soon, she was reporting at 6 a.m. on the neighboring “Jeopardy!” set, where contestants get hair and makeup and wait to find out which episode they’ll film. Stark drew the last slot of the day, which meant hours of anticipation.
Lights, camera and nerves
“I was drinking Diet Cokes during the day, trying to keep myself pepped up, waiting and waiting in anticipation,” she said. “I was able to psych myself up and then I psyched myself out and I psyched myself back up.”
This is not the kind of pressure Stark usually faces.
She serves as a captain in the Missouri Army National Guard’s 229th Multifunctional Medical Battalion and works as a research associate for the St. Louis County Police Department, writing policy and working on national accreditation. She also serves as a reserve officer in Ballwin.
But standing behind a brightly lit puzzle board, she admits, was its own kind of nerve-racking.
Not Primetime
If the filming itself was surreal, the broadcast timing added another twist. Because of Olympic coverage, Stark’s episode will air locally at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19 — hardly prime time.
“I was kind of like, oh man,” she said. “I know people wanted to watch it.”
Her friends have rallied anyway. Some plan to record it. Others insist they’ll be awake. The episode will also stream on Peacock and Hulu, giving viewers a more reasonable option.
Mazel from Temple Israel
Among those cheering her on is her synagogue, Temple Israel. Stark said she was surprised and deeply touched to see a mazel shoutout in the congregation’s weekly newsletter.
“It made me thrilled,” she said. “They’re really supporting me. They want other members of the congregation to support me. It was so unexpected and so amazing.”
After three years of applying, the call to play the game felt like something bigger than just a lucky break.
“Honestly, I saw it as someone wanting to take a chance on me,” she said. “Someone saw something in me and thought, this girl is maybe going to do something interesting.”
And maybe that’s the quiet charm of the whole thing.
A National Guard captain. A police officer. A well-earned mazel. And maybe, just maybe, a “Wheel of Fortune” champion.
If that’s not worth buying a vowel for, what is?
How to watch
In St. Louis, “Wheel of Fortune” airs weeknights on KSDK-TV Channel 5 (NBC). Because of Olympic coverage, Stark’s episode will air locally at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19.
If you prefer a more reasonable hour, episodes are also available to stream on Peacock and Hulu.
