Joya-Dean Hegamin has been a fan of “Wheel of Fortune” since she was a baby.
“It was like a family thing, I grew up watching it with (my momma and gramma),” Hegamin, a women and gender studies senior, said. “My gramma says I’m the only person who can beat her and I’m holding onto that streak.”
Last Tuesday, Hegamin won the show, taking home over $40,000 and two trips to Europe.
Hegamin submitted her audition to the show in 2020, thinking she could get in with few submissions due to the modifications in effect from COVID. It took almost two years to hear back.
“After they contacted me about going onto the show, it just felt like a dream,” Hegamin said.
When she was accepted in December 2021, she also indicated that she wanted to participate during College Week, which is a week when all Wheel of Fortune shows are college students only. She had no idea when she would get to participate.
A month before recording, she received a call asking her to come down. She immediately booked a flight.
“I prioritize Wheel,” Hegamin said in an interview with Maggie Sajak.
She took an early spring break to California where “Wheel of Fortune” is filmed. Filming took place on only one day.
Before the filming started, Hegamin was able to meet the other contestants, Sami Martinez and Michael Zargari, and also practiced spinning the iconic wheel.
“The wheel was really heavy! Having the opportunity to practice was really cool,” Hegamin said.
Joya-Dean Hegamin on "Wheel of Fortune." Photo provided.
When she played, it felt like everything fell into place. She knew exactly what to do from her years of watching the show.
In her last round, she spun and won in the category “person,” with a “hero in the making.” The answer won her the whole game.
The day of recording went by in a blur for her, Hegamin said. She was so pumped, she said it made the bonus round tough for her, but she came in prepared. To start, she chose “What are you doing?” as her category because she automatically knows the letters i, n and g would be in there for a verb.
Unfortunately, even with her strategy she was left with a blank three letter word. The answer was “widening the gap.” She did not win the bonus round despite her strategic planning.
“I was so amped … by what I had just done that it doesn’t bother me to do this day,” Hegamin said. “But … it was more my pride.”
Despite the loss, she still won over $40,000 and trips to Spain and the British Isles. She plans on saving the winnings for her future.
She had to keep her victory to herself until her show aired. When it did, she and her friends and RA had a big watch party at Headington Hall, as well as her mom.
“My mom came down. At first she was gonna watch it at home, but then she was like ‘I can’t imagine watching this episode and not being there with you,’” Hegamin said. “It was kind of a surreal thing … especially having watched the show my whole life.”
She hopes that other people will also go for the things they love, but also to just have fun with it. “I encourage people, whatever it is you want to do, just go for it! Just do it,” Hegamin said. “My mom said, ‘I just want you to have the experience and have fun.’”
