From Fry’s Spring to ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ Charlottesville dad takes his turn

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - At 7 p.m., Pierre Poindexter is usually in his carport in Charlottesville’s Fry’s Spring neighborhood, calling out answers to Wheel of Fortune. On Monday night, November 9, his neighbors can turn on their TVs and watch him play.

Poindexter buys and sells scrap metal for a living and says he’s usually calm under pressure. Then came the minutes before his Wheel of Fortune taping. He’d sweated through his suit jacket, and a wardrobe staffer told him he couldn’t go on like that.

“She made me stand like the scarecrow and pulled out a hair dryer and was literally blowing out my armpits,” Poindexter said.

Two TVs and a head start

Once he got to the wheel, Poindexter told host Ryan Seacrest how he used to get a jump on the answers as a kid. At 7 p.m., his mother or grandmother would call everyone into the living room to watch. Poindexter figured out that the TV in his mother’s room was a few seconds ahead.

He’d listen for the answer in her room, then hurry back to the living room and announce it. He was five or six at the time, he told Seacrest, and couldn’t even read yet.

“None of that here,” Seacrest told him. “This is all in real time, all right?”

Poindexter still plays along with his wife, Shannon, and their five children. His oldest son, Connor, had been encouraging him to audition for years.

“When it comes to Wheel of Fortune … Dad crushes all of us,” Connor said. “It’s cool to watch.”

A one-take audition

Shannon Poindexter was sitting in the living room when she heard her husband talking into his phone. She asked who he was talking to. He was recording his Wheel of Fortune audition.

Poindexter said he sent the video in one take, without editing it. About two weeks later, he heard back. The audition process included playing against other prospective contestants over Zoom and tackling 16 timed puzzles in a one-on-one round. He remembers solving 11 and wondering if that would be enough.

Even after he was selected, he had second thoughts. He told his boss he’d made it onto the show and was thinking about staying home. His boss urged him to go and ended up flying to Los Angeles with him. Poindexter taped the episode Sept. 23.

‘It’s no big deal’

Ask Poindexter about being on TV, and he’ll tell you, “It’s no big deal.”

His wife heard him bring it up on a call about their Hulu subscription.

“I hear him telling her that he’s about to be on Wheel of Fortune,” Shannon said. “I’m like, I’m pretty sure the Hulu rep doesn’t care, but whatever.”

His friend Jeremiah “Jay” Hargrove had a different response when he heard the news. He asked to borrow money. By the time 29News spoke with him, he’d settled on a figure.

“Pierre. I need my dollar,” Hargrove said. “You said you was going to give me a dollar.”

Viewers can see how Poindexter did when his episode of Wheel of Fortune airs Monday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. on WVIR.

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