Last summer, Tristia帽a Hinton鈥檚 grandmother fell and broke her leg.
While she was in rehab, Hinton spent a lot of time with her, most of it, she said, was watching game shows. As Hinton participated from home when the shows were on, her grandmother remarked how talented she was.
鈥淪he was like, 鈥榃ow, you鈥檙e really good at this. You should go on. You would win,鈥欌�� Hinton told WTOP.
So, without telling anyone, Hinton applied to be a contestant on 鈥淲heel of Fortune.鈥� She went through the interview process. By the time she got a callback, her grandmother, nicknamed Yams, had gotten sick and died.
As Hinton returned home from the funeral, around 2 a.m., she checked her email and learned that she鈥檇 been selected to be a contestant.
Wearing a black blazer with her 鈥淲heel of Fortune鈥� name tag, Hinton 鈥� a former WTOP editor 鈥� shared that story with a room filled with family and friends at Alfreda in Northwest D.C. on Monday night.
After months of wondering about her performance, they watched her success on the restaurant鈥檚 lone television.
鈥淭his has been a really great way to honor my grandmother,鈥� Hinton said. 鈥淎nd she was right.鈥�
Shortly after receiving the email, Hinton excitedly called her mom to share the news. The show taped in early June, she said, on a day that started in a 鈥渄ingy parking lot at 7 a.m.鈥�
She was 鈥渟uper, super nervous鈥� going into every episode they taped, she said, and as the group watched the episode Monday, they cheered as she successfully guessed letters in phrases such as 鈥淧umpkin Spice Latte鈥� and 鈥淗ead Coach.鈥�
But she didn鈥檛 realize she鈥檇 won until Ryan Seacrest told another player she had a great game and thanked her for playing.
Seacrest started tapping her shoulder, but Hinton had a delayed reaction because, 鈥淎ll I鈥檓 saying is ‘Oh, my God, I did it.’ She was right 鈥� talking about my grandmother,鈥� she said.
Her mom, Stephanie Hinton, got to watch from the studio, and described the experience as 鈥渟o much fun.鈥�
鈥淚 had no idea what to expect,鈥� Stephanie Hinton said. 鈥淩yan Seacrest was absolutely a doll. Vanna (White) is such a sweetheart. They were so super nice.鈥�
Once it became clear that Hinton had won Monday鈥檚 episode, she removed the blazer to display the back of her pink shirt.
In 鈥淲heel of Fortune鈥� style block letters, it said, 鈥淵ams was right!鈥�
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