Lansing woman fulfills dream to be a contestant on game show – airing October 31

LANSING, Ill. (October 30, 2023) – Michelle Reid, a Lansing resident for over five years, has dreamed of being a contestant on her favorite game show since she was a little girl, and her dream has finally become a reality.

Reid is set to appear on ABC’s Press Your Luck on Tuesday, October 31.

The game show features three contestants competing against one another to answer questions in a game of wits, strategy, and high stakes. During each game, the contestants square off by answering questions to earn spins on the Big Board for a chance to win cash and prizes.

The winning contestant moves to the bonus round for a chance to win a million dollars. They must also avoid the iconic “WHAMMY” which is designed to take all their winnings and leave them with nothing.

Michelle Reid’s dream

Reid, who is a wife and mother, wears many hats including a service agent, notary public, and public relations specialist, and now, she is excited to add the title of game show contestant to her list of accomplishments.

“I decided to be on Press Your Luck because it’s my favorite game show in the entire world and has been since the show’s first appearance [when] I was 12 years old,” Reid said.

“It has always been a dream of mine to go on a game show, especially Press Your Luck and at 52 years young…Here I am,” she continued.

The mother of two got the idea to apply for the show from her thirteen-year-old daughter one night while the family was watching the game show together.

“I said, you know what, I will [apply],” Reid said. “I pulled out my laptop, filled out the application, submitted a video and the rest is history.”

The return of Press Your Luck

Press Your Luck first aired on CBS in 1983 with Peter Tomarken as the host. The show ran for three seasons from 1983 – 1986 before it was taken off the air.

The primetime game show was revived by ABC in 2019 with American actress Elizabeth Banks as the host. Banks is most known for her roles in the Pitch Perfect and Hunger Games trilogies, as well as Walk of Shame.

Reid will appear in the fourth episode of the show’s fifth season.

The Press Your Luck experience

Reid had to go through a series of phone and Zoom interviews, fill out a large amount of paperwork, and send in several photos of herself before she was chosen to attend the Press My Luck boot camp.

After two months of boot camp, she was finally chosen as one of the three contestants.

“You are never guaranteed to be on the show,” Reid said. “However, just knowing what a great impression I made [on the] Press Your Luck team, I knew it was inevitable and it’s still truly surreal.”

“The process was exciting, intense, fun, and nerve-racking all at the same time,” she said.

She described her experience on the show as “life-changing.”

Being at the forefront of the lights, the music, the audience, and seeing her name “felt like a dream” for Reid who also goes by the alias “Purple Lady” due to her love for the color.

“God granted me this wonderful life-changing opportunity and it simply started with me applying for the show,” she said.

The episode will air on ABC 7 on Tuesday, October 31 at 10 p.m. / 9 p.m. central time and will stream on Hulu on Wednesday, November 1.

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