Mark Neff is a word guy. He grew up playing the Jumble in the daily newspaper with his mom and as an adult, he is an author. His world came full circle when he earned a contestant spot on Wheel of Fortune. After some dramatic ups and downs in his game, he came home to Liberty Township as a winner.
“I’ve always been a word person,” Neff says. “I was watching the show with friends during the pandemic, and a lot of times I can get a puzzle with just a few letters.”
With their encouragement, Neff applied that very evening.
“Three years later, I got the email that they wanted to put me in the interview process to be a contestant.”
Neff easily navigated the audition process simply by being himself—a hair stylist turned life coach, a self-proclaimed “Hair-apist.”
While in Los Angeles for the show, Neff and the other players had the full backstage experience: hair and makeup, meals in the Sony Studios cafeteria and personal greetings by the hosts, Pat Sajak and Vanna White.
In a show of grace under pressure, Neff solved the phrase, “APPLE PIE JUST LIKE MOM USED TO MAKE.” In the Bonus Round, he won with “FORMAL GALA.” By the end of the episode, he eeked out the win, just $599 above the second-place player.
“I won $14,300 in cash, a 10-day rail tour of Ireland and a 2023 Lincoln Corsair,” he announces. “Just being on the show, I felt like I was winning already. The prizes were a bonus on top of that,” he says.
Neff was the guest of honor at a local viewing party, held in September at the Draft Bar & Grille. He had to wait until the show aired to share his good news.
“It was the longest seven weeks of my life!” Neff exclaims. “I had gotten two bankruptcy spots as my first two spins. I knew it was going to make great nail-biting TV. It was super fun to see the excitement of everyone as they cheered me on.”
Neff’s game show experience reaches way beyond the limelight--he’s deeply grateful.
“The real magic for me was the full circle moment of having written a book on authenticity and then having that be one of the key characteristics they’re looking for in their contestants,” he explains. “When we're being our authentic selves, we're open in more ways than we realize. That's when we're able to receive the amazing things that life presents us. Being on the Wheel of Fortune is a perfect example of something amazing to receive.”
"I won $14,300 in cash, a 10-day rail tour of Ireland and a 2023 Lincoln Corsair. Just being on the show, I felt like I was winning already. The prizes were a bonus on top of that."