If it weren't for a hot dog and a forgiving cop, Kristin Lundy might not have been a contestant on "The Price is Right."
Lundy, a UF health education and behavior senior, will try to bid her way to the top on Tuesday's episode of the game show, which was taped March 10 and will be aired on CBS at 11 a.m.
Lundy was in Los Angeles for Spring Break with two of her friends during the week of the taping. Before she made it on the show, the group waited outside the studio for five hours. They were grumpy after waking up early, being pulled over by a police officer, which almost made them late, and paying $22 for parking.
And they were hungry.
Thanks to some hot dogs, Lundy found the energy to impress the producers, and soon the announcer was telling her to "Come on down!" Her name was the first one from the audience called that day, and she said she was so fascinated by the bright lights and the moving cameras that she didn't even hear it.
Lundy's two friends had to slap her and scream in her ear before she realized what was happening.
Next thing she knew, she was being pushed out of her seat and was running down the stairs to the stage.
"I feel like I just ran the whole spectrum of emotions in two seconds," she said.
Even when she was on "contestant row," she said it was hard to pay attention to what was going on.
"I don't remember anything except for my heart was beating really, really fast," she said.
During commercial breaks, Lundy said she bonded with some of the other contestants, including another college student and an older woman with her sights set on winning a car.
She also talked with Drew Carey, the show's host. When Carey heard she was studying health, she said he started cracking jokes about his smoking habits.
Lundy couldn't say how well she fared on the show because of confidentiality agreements, but she did share some insight into the game show world.
"The studio is a lot smaller than it looks on TV," she said. "I felt like I could actually reach out and touch the stage."
And the large spinning wheel at the end of each round, which determines who moves on to the "Showcase Showdown," is extremely heavy, she said.
Lundy plans to watch the show at The Swamp Restaurant with her friends and some faculty members from UF's College of Health and Human Performance.
"Everyone thinks it's an April Fools' Day joke," she said. "I have a hard time convincing people that they should actually watch it."
