I’ve found it funny that more than taxes or anything else, it seems like the thing that surprises people the most is that you have to keep your win secret (usually for months) until your show airs.
I guess that concept is something some people don’t really want to wrap their minds around.
Some people have been asking how secretive you really have to be, which is why I did this post.
To me, this secret stuff is all just part of life. If I have a friend who is on a game show that hasn’t aired yet, I don’t ask what they won. Even when I was telling my friends in the industry to DVR my show, not a single one asked what I’d won.
Before I’d even said finished my sentence, everyone was all, “Don’t say another word. Just in case. I know you must’ve signed a confidentially agreement. Can’t wait to see what happens.”
Even if I was sort of giddy – “But I want so badly to say something. Can I just give you a hint or a tiny piece without saying what happened?”
“You better not say a single word! You never know who overhears you or how things travel. I’ll find out soon enough,” my smart, responsible friends would answer.
That’s really the best way to be with a game show winner. When you’re begging us to know more, we want to tell you! So make it easier on us, since we can’t.
I know Price is Right is one of the harder wins to keep secret. With the other shows, when you definitively know you will be on ahead of time, you can get everyone to come be in the audience. Then you don’t have to worry about keeping a secret from your circle, because they will have seen it all before their very eyes.
With TPiR, you don’t know you’re a contestant until the moment it happens. (Of course, that’s also a lovely thing in my opinion.)
Now, exactly how secret do you have to be about it?
I would not go posting on social media that you won anything. Sometimes Price is Right tweets stuff about the upcoming contestants who’ve made it onstage.
I’d defer to TPiR. Unless they specifically tweeted about me, I’d be pretty vague.
Personally, I did tweet out that people should DVR TPiR, but I didn’t give away any spoilers.
That’s not to say that literally no one knew anything. Audience members for the next show saw me with my Price is Right winner’s license plate holder when I walked out. Already my super secret was sort of out of the bag to these strangers.
(But they were all in the area where they weren’t allowed to have phones, and none of them knew me. So what did it matter?)
(I’m sure word generally gets around families or friend circles, because whoever did go with you didn’t sign any confidentiality things (as far as I remember) – you’re the one who signed one when you were filling out the paperwork for your prizes.)
I desperately wanted to immediately tell my dad everything. But I didn’t. When you’re a grown up dealing with important stuff, sometimes you just can’t tell your loved ones everything.
Just pretend you’re in the CIA or some other super secret organization. (Makes the secret more fun, right?) Think of it as protecting your loved ones from the stress of keeping your game show secret.
(Of course, telling people that you can’t say anything, but that they should watch, makes their imaginations go wild, and everyone thinks you won a double showcase… Oof.)
Now, if it’s getting pretty close to your air date and you end up telling an extremely close friend who works with cars for a living, ’cause you want to know the best way to sell it…
Or if you let your dad in because you need grown up insurance advice or whatever – I don’t think Price is Right is NSAing you.
Even Ken Jennings told his boss when he was winning a million Jeopardy episodes, ’cause Ken had to say why he kept missing work.
My guess is you’d tell your significant other or possibly parents or someone heavily involved in your life, so y’all can figure out how your household plans to accept your prizes.
However, all that being said, please note that I am not officially advising you to tell a single soul. If you tell someone and get in trouble, don’t blame me. ‘Cause my official stance is to tell no one.
*Men in black light*.