How to become a contestant on Let's Make A Deal

My husband had a conference in LA in September, so I went online to get tickets to Let's Make A Deal (website here). The website is pretty vague as to what to expect, so here's our experience.

You can watch our episode here. ( if you want to fast forward we show up about 8:20)
UPDATE: the episode is no longer available.

We got there about 8:30 am for a 10:00 am session and we were the 13th and 14th in line. There is no place to change, so come in costume.  This also allows you the added benefit of  walking past 3 schools and getting mocking glances from all students. Good times.

 Leave your weapons, cell phones, and cameras in the car. You can bring food, drink, a book etc.  Don't forget your photo ID.  

We checked in and were assigned a number and then we sat in a holding area.  About 10:30, the producers came in and had the first line stand up.  We were each given about 10 seconds to tell our age, occupation, and a interesting fact about ourselves.  I said something like: "I am a 39-year-old trophy wife from San Antonio, TX and I came here to win a car, because last night my mini-van was destroyed by a 550 pound feral hog" (true story-here).  My husband said something about being in the Air Force and being married to me for 16 years.  I don't know how amazing we were-honestly, I think we were just the first married couple in line. 

After our little audition, we went into yet another holding area. They sold some over-priced food and drinks.  You could also get your photo taken against a green screen, that looks like you are in the audience for $20. Totally worth it-see ours above.

The producers came out a few times and told us what to do and not do.  They warned us that women's IQ will drop about 100 points on camera.  I thought she was exaggerating-sadly she was not.

Finally about noon, they led us into the studio.  They had loud music playing and they told us to dance and have high energy or we wouldn't get picked.  The producers were lined up on stage checking us out, and moving people around in their seats.  We wanted to get picked, so we danced in such a way that is usually reserved for the privacy of our living room. I think at one point we actually even "tootsie-rolled".

Finally, the show started.  The first contestant was the first guy in line,- it pays to get there early.  Then, they asked for a couple and they picked the birdwatcher and the peacock!  Even though they had explained about 85 times how to walk down to the stage, I still walked down the wrong way (thank goodness for editing so you don't have to watch it).  I didn't feel smart. My brain was just so completely overloaded, it stopped working.  My husband was much cooler under pressure, and made it correctly to the stage. 

Then they opened up the curtain to reveal a car!!!!  I thought this would be a perfect ending to the mini-van versus pig story. Nope. 

We made "Let's Make A Deal" history, by doing the worst ever on our particular game.  There were 8 boxes and we had to get pick 3 gold without picking the 2 dynamite.  Of course, we only picked the dynamite.  When we fail, we fail big. 

 It was fun to watch all the contestants, since we had spent the morning talking to most of them.  Texas Santa sat right next to me all morning and we were thrilled that he won. The track star and I bonded over our ginormous eyelashes.

After the taping, we found out that all contestants that lost, would still get $100 for appearing on stage!  We had to sign confidentiality agreements and we were told we'd get our check after our episode aired. 

It was a fun way to spend the day, and the sting of losing so bad has faded. Honestly, I am just happy, I didn't end up doing something really stupid that went viral.

Here's some tips if you ever want to be a contestant:

1.  Dress up.  The website says that there are a small number of costumes to rent, but that is no longer the case. They also seemed to pick people wearing weird stuff on their faces or heads.
2. Don't dress skanky.  The producers want you jumping up and down and don't want any of your parts falling out on stage. 
3. Be early-6 of the top 20 people made it on stage
4. Do not dress up like any actual person or any licensed character. They will cover you in "let's make a deal" stickers and they will not pick you.  This includes sports teams.  
5. You have about 10 seconds to impress the producers, so be memorable.  Have a funny joke, a dance, or a even a cheer. Texas Santa sealed his spot on stage when he spent some of his 10 seconds break-dancing.
6.  You are going to be there along time, so bring a book and some snacks. We were there from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm
7. Large fake blue eyelashes shouldn't be worn longer than 3 hours. My eyes were pink for 3 days.