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Published 1:04 pm Saturday, April 5, 2014

Jennell and Dwight Riddick experience the magic on “The Price is Right.” -- SUBMITTED

Jennell and Dwight Riddick experience the magic on “The Price is Right.” — SUBMITTED

MATTHEW A. WARD/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD
matthew.ward@suffolknewsherald.com

Special to The Tidewater News

A Suffolk woman whose husband fulfilled her dreams for their seventh wedding anniversary with trip to Los Angeles to appear on “The Price Is Right” says her high lingers two months later.

“I have loved, loved loved game shows since I was a little girl, so we got tickets online,” Jennell Riddick said. “We went out there the week after our anniversary” on Feb. 3.

Arriving at the CBS studios, Jennell and her husband Dwight Riddick, a pastor at First Baptist Church in Franklin, got in line, had their photos taken, filled our applications, were briefly interviewed by a producer, had some lunch, then took their seats in the audience to await their fate – just like everyone else.

Would they be selected as contestants?

“The process was about four hours,” Jennell Riddick said of that initial phase. “Then, once you get into the studio, it goes so quickly.”

She said she realized she had been selected to go before host Drew Carey for her chance at cash and prizes when she looked at the stage and noticed a cue card with her name on it.

“I looked over at my husband and said, ‘That cue card says my name! That’s my name!’ It was unreal, because I have been watching game shows since I was a little girl.”

Her first game was the spelling bee, Jennell Riddick said, but she has been sworn to secrecy as to how she fared on the show. The episode airs on Wednesday at 11 a.m. on CBS.

“It was a like a dream,” she said. “It was so much fun. I would have been happy just to be in the studio (audience).

“I was very happy with what I walked away with.”

Needless to say, if Dwight Riddick was not in his wife’s good books before, he is now.

“I thought it was a thoughtful gift,” she said. “To be picked and get to play was just icing on the cake.”

Jennell Riddick said her husband was “always trying to surprise people. He’s very giving, and he gives a lot to a lot of people. He really encourages people to go for their dreams.”

So does his wife, who mentors girls in high and middle school.

“One thing I teach them is that regardless of what you think your limitations are, shoot for the stars,” she said.

“Go for the things that seem unattainable, because you could find out those things aren’t unattainable.”

Jennell Riddick said she could not stop smiling whenever she watched the show. “I’m sure I will tell my children and grandchildren,” she said. “That will be one for the books, I’m sure.”