‘Wheel of Fortune’ Teachers’ Week includes Iowa choir director. How to watch.

Avid watchers of “Wheel of Fortune” will need to keep an eye out in future episodes, as a central Iowa native will be appearing on the popular game show.

Nick Oswald of Ankeny is a contestant on the Thursday, Sept. 18, episode of “Wheel of Fortune.” Oswald, choir director for eighth and ninth grades at Southview Middle School and an educator with more than two decades of experience, is featured on Teachers’ Week for “Wheel of Fortune,” where educators from across the United States compete for cash and prizes.

“I don’t feel like there’s been a lot of Iowa representation on teachers week, so it felt good to represent the state and choir directors as a whole,” Oswald, 44, said.

How did Iowa’s Nick Oswald land on ‘Wheel of Fortune’?

Growing up in Dubuque, Oswald said former “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak and his co-host Vanna White were staples on his family’s TV.

“Our whole family would come together and watch and make a competition out of who could solve the puzzles first,” he said. “To this day, anytime I’m back home visiting my parents, we always make sure we watch it.”

His love for competition and game shows stayed with him into adulthood, leading to appearances on two game shows: first on the short-lived “You Bet Your Life” reboot with Jay Leno in 2021, and later on “Let’s Make a Deal” with Wayne Brady in 2024, where he won a cruise and $11,000.

After his appearance on “You Bet Your Life,” Oswald said he kept getting emails from casting agents seeking contestants. “I don’t know this for a fact, but once you are on a game show, you get put on some kind of list,” he said.

He said the process of getting on “Wheel of Fortune” involved long stretches of waiting — from the initial outreach and interviews to finally flying out and arriving on set.

“I had received a call about a Zoom interview where we actually had a practice game in front of a casting agent, and it was eight months later before I got the actual call to be on the show,” he said. “Finally getting the call back was quite a nice surprise.”

What was Nick Oswald’s experience like on ‘Wheel of Fortune’?

Having some prior game show experience, he said he felt comfortable being on camera and in front of a large studio audience. He said his biggest concern going into the taping was committing a blunder that would get clipped and make him a meme on social media.

“My biggest fear was that I was either going to call a letter that had already been called or make something plural that wasn’t, because that happens all the time, and when it does, it typically goes viral,” he joked.

He said his strategy was to try to work ahead on what his next move was during the times when he wasn’t spinning the wheel.

“Anytime I wasn’t spinning, I was constantly trying to use the letter board and figure out which combinations of words would work,” he said. “It’s easy at home to sit back and maybe be on your phone and half paying attention, but when you’re in the heat of the moment, you really have to make sure that you’re in it to win it.”

As for his experience working with the two stars of the show — White and current host Ryan Seacrest — he said both were “very kind and very personable” to all the contestants.

“Ryan would talk to us occasionally during commercial break, and Vanna actually walked in and introduced herself to us,” he said. “They made it a very welcoming environment even when the cameras weren’t running.”

Regarding his performance on the game show, he said he had remained silent when people asked him in advance how he did.

“You get a minimum of $1,000 as your baseline prize with $1 million being the most, so I’ve just been telling people I won anywhere between those two figures,” he said. “I’ve left everyone completely in the dark. — They’ll just have to wait till Thursday.”

How to watch Iowa native Nick Oswald on ‘Wheel of Fortune’

You can see how much cash Oswald walks away with by watching the Thursday, Sept. 18 episode of “Wheel of Fortune.”

In central Iowa, the episode airs at 6:30 p.m. CT on WHO 13. For fans in Oswald’s hometown of Dubuque, the episode airs at 6:30 p.m. on KWWL. Full TV listings can be found at, wheeloffortune.com/watch.

All episodes of “Wheel of Fortune” are available to stream on Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and Peacock.

Oswald is inviting guests to celebrate his appearance on “Wheel of Fortune” with a watch party at The Garden Nightclub, 525 E. Grand Ave. in Des Moines, starting at 5:30 p.m.

Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.

This story has been updated to add video.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Teachers’ Week includes Iowa choir director. How to watch.

Reporting by Cooper Worth, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register

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