Friday morning on CBS’s “The Price Is Right,” Nebraskan Connie Kulwicki walked onto the stage, bid correctly all the way through her showcase and went home with more than $40,000 in prizes.
Kulwicki, a 57-year-old nurse from Ravenna, Nebraska, came on down to the stage wearing a red Nebraska Huskers shirt, winning her way out of Contestant’s Row after making the best bid on an iPhone.
From there, she scored a trip to Canada, and through her showcase, won a home entertainment system (with a TV, DVR, furniture), a trip to Chicago and a Fiat car. Altogether, she won $40,450 in prizes.
“I thought my likeliness of getting picked would be slim to none,” Kulwicki said. “Maybe it was my energy and enthusiasm, and just saying: ‘I’m from the great state of Nebraska.’
“I would encourage anybody who wants to to try out because you can actually get up there and win prizes.”
Plus, she said, Drew Carey’s just the nicest guy. Definitely worth meeting.
Kulwicki shot her “Price Is Right” episode in November, when she and her husband, Ken Kulwicki, were on vacation in Los Angeles. Getting tickets to the show was his idea.
The Fiat car Kulwicki won is complicated by Ken’s size: Six-foot-four and 250 pounds.
Now Connie’s getting texts from friends and family: “If Ken’s not going to fit into that car, we’ll take it from you.”
But the Kulwickis have the option to upgrade the car, so they’ll be holding onto it, thank you very much.
The trips to Canada and Chicago are also going to be complicated. Connie said they have to take both trips within a year of the show’s airdate. That’s a challenge because they’re farmers. They can’t leave at times that would affect planting, harvest or their cattle operation. And Connie will have to make sure she can get off work at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
Still, Connie said, winning too many vacations on a game show is a good problem to have.