The Price is Right for Madison Riley 

Have you ever watched a game show from the comfort of home and thought, “Hey, I could do that”?

UNC Charlotte’s Madison Riley, a junior biology major on the pre-med track, got the opportunity on the Oct. 7 episode of “The Price is Right.” The in-person experience was a whirlwind of emotions, and one she didn’t set out for. Ironically, the back of Riley’s homemade shirt read “Don’t pick me, pick my sister.”

“It wasn’t satire, I did not want to get picked,” Riley said. “I am petrified of public settings.”

Riley grew up watching “The Price is Right” with her family but hadn’t watched the show much since being at college. Her mom and older sister spearheaded the effort to get the family on the show, entering the four of them into a raffle.

When they were selected to be part of the audience, the Riley family stayed up until 2 a.m. making bright blue family T-shirts for the event before catching a 4 a.m. flight to Los Angeles.

“It was like a big group project,” Riley said. “It was nice working together. It was a good bonding experience, but I was nervous.”

Riley noted the lead up to the event was stressful. When the family arrived in Los Angeles , they sat through a four-hour process, which included interviews with producers, to determine who among the hundreds in the audience would play for prizes. Riley cracked jokes to cope with her overall uncomfortability, which in hindsight she believed endeared her to the game show’s producers.

As filming began, Riley was the first contestant picked and the only representative from her family of four. The pressure to go first was immense, but it relieved the stress of waiting.

The first item for bidding was an elliptical. Riley guessed low, resulting in a chorus of boos from the live studio audience. From the well-lit stage, Riley could clearly see a wall of strangers yelling at her. Through it all, she silently leaned on her family.

“My family were the only eyes I could look into,” Riley said. “Whenever I looked at them, it all went a little bit quiet, and I was able to breathe for a moment. We would look at each other and talk with our eyes.”

The second item up was luggage which, since traveling to California, she realized was very expensive. She bid the highest and was met with a chorus of boos, but she ultimately won the item.

The final game was “Bullseye,” which involved guessing the price of grocery items. This game was made trickier given that the selected items were based on California prices, a challenge for the North Carolina native.

She miscalculated the first two bids but hit on the final one making her one of two winners for the episode. She walked away with the luggage she bid on earlier and two tickets to Key West.

“My sister said, ‘I’m so glad it was you, I would’ve passed out,’” Riley said. “My mom also would not have been okay. And I don’t think my dad has the TV personality that I do. My family was ultimately glad it was me.”

After the episode wrapped, Riley had to keep her success a secret or risk losing her prizes. When the episode finally aired Riley was back at UNC Charlotte, where she held a family watch party, FaceTiming with her sister in New York and her parents.

Her UNC Charlotte friends joined for another viewing, and Riley FaceTimed her best friend and roommate who was abroad at the time in Australia. Riley said her friends were blown away by her performance and told her she looked visibly nervous.

The trip to Key West is in the works. Riley is planning to do the trip over winter break with her sister — their first trip to Florida without parents.

“I couldn’t think of taking anyone else but my sister,” said Riley. “She was the reason I was picked, and I’m really excited to take the luggage I won.”