EASTON, Pa. — A city resident and lifetime fan of "Wheel of Fortune" got an opportunity to appear on the popular game show in the fall.
Now the episode airs Wednesday, and he’s looking to celebrate with friends, family and the community he loves.
Rickhaslo Brown, who lives in the West Ward, will make an appearance on the popular game show in an episode recorded in November.
It’s a lifelong dream he never thought could come true, but with support from his family and friends, he made it happen.
Brown, who was born and raised in Jamaica, said he grew up watching "Wheel of Fortune" with his grandmother, being “we only had three channels on the TV.”
“But I was a nerd in high school, and I kind of still am, so I’d always sit down with my grandma and she would say a word of what she’d think the puzzle was, and I’d say ‘No! It’s this or this!’ and I’d end up right,” Brown said.
He still watches the show to this day, he said, which inspired his wife Heather to encourage him to audition — with a little help.
Working at a psychiatric hospital, Brown had been on a schedule to catch the show while patients took their medication.
“They have ABC on in the background, and "Jeopardy" comes on first, and then "Wheel of Fortune." And one of my favorite patients there, me and her would always end up watching it," Brown said.
"I’d solve the puzzle, and she’d always tell me, ‘Ricky, you’re really good. You should audition."
With his supporters pushing him to take a chance, Brown went out to his car and shot a quick audition video. A few weeks later, he received an email from the "Wheel" team, inviting him to take a Zoom call.
Behind the scenes
Brown was a little skeptical, figuring it could be a scam, though he gave it a chance — and once he saw the logos for Sony and "Wheel of Fortune" pop up on the call, “I started freaking out.”
The first Zoom audition provided producers with an idea of Brown’s personality and energy — “I’m always cracking jokes, I’m always laughing, so it was natural for me,” he said — before they decided on final candidates.
"It was just weird that it was really happening, you know?”Rickhaslo Brown
Just hours later, Brown got a confirmation email — they wanted to schedule a second call to test his ability with puzzle-solving. With a two-minute time limit, Brown had to tackle as many puzzles as possible.
“I was so nervous, I was just so excited… It was just weird that it was really happening, you know?” Brown said.
Brown was told to sit tight, and that representatives would reach out to schedule his appearance. After dealing with a mountain of paperwork, non-disclosure agreements and other legal documents, he received a list of eight dates for potential shoots.
As it turns out, contestants on "Wheel of Fortune" are comped for travel, up to a certain limit, after they appear on the program, which can be tricky when travel hovers around holidays.
When Brown readily agreed to one date, he quickly discovered that travel and hotel prices exceeded the budget he and his wife had set. Brown said representatives from the show said it was OK, they could reschedule.
When another offer to jump on a shoot ASAP popped up, Brown took another shot, only to find that travel prices had again spiked. It was a no-go again.
“And when they said ‘We'll get back to you,’ I was heartbroken, because I said to myself, ‘Ricky, there's hundreds of thousands, millions of people that audition for this thing," Brown said.
"Some people don't even get an email back from them. Yeah, I got two chances, and I felt like, ‘I'll do it.’ But I don't know, I just felt like it wasn't over, like I came home and I told my wife, like, ‘I feel it in my soul. They're gonna hit me up again.’”
By Brown’s birthday on Nov. 11, and a trip to Jamaica to celebrate the following day, he got the call: They wanted him to come to Culvert City, California, on Nov. 20.
“And I said, ‘Absolutely!’ So Nov. 12 to Nov. 15, we flew to Jamaica, came back on the 15th, and then Nov. 19, we flew out to California,” Brown said.
Meeting Ryan Seacrest
On Nov. 20, Brown was at the studio, ready to roll by 6:45 a.m., because as he puts it, “if they have to look for you at 7 o’clock, you’re late.”
After another pile of paperwork, some makeup and wardrobe work, it was showtime, with Brown meeting host Ryan Seacrest for the first time. Brown said Seacrest was incredibly friendly and easy to talk to, in addition to being notably short.
Watchers with a keen eye may notice Brown shortened his name to "Ricky," which he said he did to make it a bit easier for Seacrest during the show.
“It's a different ballgame when you're on the stage and they say ‘Action!' ...It was an out of body experience,"Rickhaslo Brown
As for being on the stage, Brown said the experience was somewhat surreal – it’s much smaller in person, with an audience of about 50 people, most of whom are contestants who will shoot their own episodes later in the day. There are risers for each contestant to keep them all at a relatively equal height.
“It's a different ballgame when you're on the stage and they say ‘Action!’ and the applause sign comes on, and people are clapping, and you know, the cameras rolling, and you have to do something. Yes, it was an out of body experience,” Brown said.
One of the more surprising parts of the game was the fact that contestants need a bit of training before they can get into it.
“They literally teach you how to spin the wheel,” Brown said.
“Say that you spin it and you drop on the $10,000 card, and you take it off. Those cards, there’s a specific places where you have to place them. You have to position your body a certain way, you have to spin the wheel from left to right, and you have to be careful — you can’t have anything hanging on you because you don’t want to get stuck in the wheel.
"You have to put a little muscle into it, to spin the wheel.”
Impromptu performance
Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open during the show, as Brown had an opportunity to perform an original reggae song. While he had to clear the rights with Sony, he said he still had a blast getting to perform on the program.
Brown said he is eternally grateful for the opportunity to play the game, adding “I pray three times a day, and when I pray, I don’t ask God for anything. I just thank him. That’s it.”
Heather Brown said she believed in her husband from the start, and knew he just needed an opening to succeed.
"So I knew that he just needed his opportunity, and he would go far."Heather Brown, wife of Rickhaslo Brown
"I knew all he had to do was get a chance, He is so good at the show, when he watches it, he gets every single one, every single time, like he spurts it out literally seconds before anyone on the show says anything. So I knew that he just needed his opportunity, and he would go far," Heather Brown said.
As for the results, you have to wait until Wednesday to find out. Brown and his family have invited the community to join a watch party at Rivals Sports Bar and Restaurant in Easton, which starts at 6 p.m.
But based on his exuberance, one could assume he did well, and at the very least, proved he could make it, all thanks to the support of his family and friends.
“My wife was in the audience, and I just remember saying to her, ‘Are you proud of me’? And she said, ‘Yeah,’ and I was crying. She's like, ‘Listen, you’ve got to calm down,'" Brown said. "And I messaged my brothers in Jamaica, and as far as I know, everybody in Jamaica is going crazy that knows that I'll be on the show.
"So I'm very thankful, because it seriously is an out-of-body experience."
