Liberty Borough man tries his luck on ‘Wheel of Fortune’
By MEGAN TROTTER
TribLive
Mike Soltis walked exactly 1.1 miles from his hotel to the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif., in September, wearing one shirt and carrying two extras.
Mike Soltis, of Liberty Borough, on “Wheel of Fortune.”
He remembers the weather was a mild 68 degrees, but the humidity was high. By the time he reached the studio — the site of the iconic “Wheel of Fortune” stage — he said he was “sweating gumballs.”
Luckily, Soltis, 49, told TribLive, the production team selected one of his extra shirts to match the background of the set and when he made his television debut on the game show on Monday night, the audience could not see sweat from nerves or the walk.
Soltis had been solving “Wheel of Fortune” word puzzles for more than 30 years, but it wasn’t until Dec ember that he realized he might have what it takes to compete.
“I was at my neighbor’s house with another neighbor, and we were watching, and I got every puzzle right — even before anyone even guessed,” Soltis said.
One application and four Zoom interviews later, Soltis was representing the Steel City on the show.
“I’ve been told I’m like the poster boy for Pittsburgh. You know, I’m a union carpenter. I work for the government, and I have two cousins with polka bands,” Soltis said to TribLive on Tuesday. “I like my IC Light.”
Soltis, an Allegheny County Housing Authority Carpenter, was born in the North Side, grew up in Glassport and now lives in Liberty Borough, near McKeesport.
On Monday night, Soltis and his family gathered for a watch party of his episode playing against Eimi Smith from Austin, Texas, and LaShauan Swift from Chicago.
Laysha Harmon, Soltis’ girlfriend, described him as the perfect Pittsburgh representative and said he had been prepping for the show since he applied.
“There was like a brief running joke, like everyone was on his butt to practice on that ‘Wheel of Fortune’ app,” Harmon said.
Despite preparing, Soltis said he was nervous and starstruck seeing Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White step onto the set to host when the show started filming. At one point during the episode, Seacrest asked Soltis about his dog and he momentarily forgot his own dog’s breed.
“He was like, ‘Do you even know your dog?’ … I’m sorry, Ryan. I’m very nervous,” Soltis joked on Tuesday. “I just couldn’t get rocking and rolling.”
“Wheel of Fortune” poked fun at Soltis and posted a clip of the interaction on YouTube.
“I just hope I don’t end up a meme or something,” Soltis said.
Despite the nerves, once Soltis got his first song title correct, he began to feel a little better — he ended up winning a trip to Africa and walked away with $20,240.
Since the episode aired last night, Soltis and Harmon have begun looking at dates to make the trip.
“I’m pretty pumped for that. Super pumped. I mean, 17 days, that’s going to be awesome,” Soltis said.
