Owensboro Man to Appear on ABC’s Press Your Luck

I've just added another name to a list I'm calling "Friends Who Have Appeared on Game Shows." That's because Lexington resident and Owensboro native, Chad Aull, is about to do just that.

Not only is Chad originally from Owensboro, he used to work right here at WBKR/WOMI back in the day.

Sunday night, he will be a contestant on ABC's reboot of the classic game show Press Your Luck, now hosted by actress Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games, Charlie's Angels, Modern Family).

I spoke with Chad about what he was allowed to tell me about his appearance on the show and, needless to say, he had a blast.

Here's how it happened:

Chad's wife, Marisa, and their daughter, Bella, were in Los Angeles. Bella is an aspiring actress and they actually go out there quite a bit. Last year, on one of the trips, Marisa stumbled across an application to audition for another game show which has yet to air.

A stipulation for her appearance was that she couldn't appear on another game show for a certain period of time.

That led her to toss the ball to Chad, who filled out an application for Press Your Luck.

On his application appeared the question, "What is one thing you want and why do you need it?" Chad's answer was, "I wanted a Ford F-150 because I'm a country boy and I miss my pickup trucks and I'm tired of driving a 'mommy-mobile.'"

Well, the guy in charge of going over these applications LOVED Chad's answer and followed up. Turns out he also loved Chad's ACCENT. The man continued by asking Chad about the kinds of prizes he'd like to win and why.

There were lots of questions.

Chad's answers were impressive enough that, back in December, he was notified that there would be a taping in January and that Chad needed to "hold that week."

Two weeks before that January taping, he got the call to come out to California, even though it still wasn't totally official.

Well, clearly, now, it is official.

And Chad gave me some fun tidbits like, for example, the studio is absolutely FREEZING cold. He said Banks came out in this really heavy coat (NOT the kind of thing you see on the street in southern California) and then removed it seconds before the shoot started.

She would also ask the contestants about themselves during downtime; the taping of the entire hour-long episode lasted two hours

Plus, there was an unexpected and pleasant turn of events. While meeting with the folks from wardrobe, Chad excused himself to go to the restroom where he literally ran into actor Charlie Day (Horrible Bosses, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), who was in the same studio complex shooting a Tide Super Bowl commercial.

Chad actually shared more information about his appearance than I imagined he could...everything, that is, except how he performed on the show itself.

And THAT, my friends, is something we will have to wait and see when Press Your Luck airs Sunday night at 8PM Central on ABC.

I'd wish him luck, but it's already happened.