Hollywood ahoy

Jillian Carter had been preparing for a long time.

She went online to hone her strategy. She stashed away costumes.

And last fall, when she and her husband, Tyler, prepared to visit friends in San Clemente, Calif., she gave him the news: They were going to a shooting of "Let's Make a Deal."

"I love the show. I watch it quite a bit," the 27-year-old Coeur d'Alene woman said with a laugh. "I'm kind of a nerd."

The Z Spa employee's jaunty attitude is what landed her and her husband on the CBS show last year and presented them with the chance to nearly walk away with $5,000.

Nearly.

But not quite.

"We were disappointed we didn't win," Jillian admitted. "But we were happy we got picked. It was fun and a good experience. We were so jacked up on nerves, it was weird."

They drove to the Hollywood studio for the shooting last October, Jillian remembered.

She was fully prepared.

They had bought the tickets online beforehand, she said.

And in proper respect to the show's sartorial legacy of costume-clad audience members, she had brought along special attire for their television debut.

Pirate costumes - hers pink, her husband's featuring a white top and checkered pants. Both, naturally, had swords.

"Because I love the show so much and I was hoping we would go, I'd already stashed away the costumes," Jillian said with a laugh.

Tyler, an electrician who is typically working when the show is on and isn't exactly a fan, admitted he was basically along for the ride.

"I guess I love my wife," he reasoned.

They waited in line for hours, were interviewed by the show's producers, and then filed into the studio.

Immersed in the crowd of costumed fans, they watched folks called up to play, two of whom won cars.

They were the only couple called up, Jillian said.

"It was cool, because we got to try individually," she said, adding that she figured both had a shot at winning. "It's really fun. It's not like the 'Price is Right' where you have to know anything. You just pick curtains."

Of course the producers picked Jillian to be on the game show, Tyler said.

"I would say we got picked because people love my wife. It wasn't because of me," the soft spoken 29-year-old said with a chuckle. "She just has a good personality and she's good with people."

Both were nervous. They played a game opening piggy banks, Jillian said, with a chance to win $10,000.

She opened enough porkers to win $3,000, until she hit a Zonk - the bummer cue that she lost everything.

Tyler, however, got further.

"He kept going and going," she said. "Until he was one away from $5,000."

They lost it all.

In a display of charity, host Wayne Brady awarded them a $100 consolation prize.

"He felt really sorry for us," Jillian said. "It was sad. We were hoping to go to Mexico or something."

Tyler has gotten over it, he said.

"I didn't think we'd get on TV in the first place," he said. "It was a little disappointing, but we went into it with nothing. We didn't lose any money."

And they can try again in a few years, Jillian added.

"It's a long day and you wait a lot, it's kind of exhausting. But I would like to go again," she said. "I might take my mom next time, she loves the show, too."

For now, they still have a chance to tell everyone they know to tune in and watch them on TV, Jillian said.

The episode will air at 2 p.m. this Monday on CBS.

"All of our friends are really excited," she said. "They know how much I love this show, how much of a dork I am."