Yuma woman dressed as roach wins $4K on game show

Yuma resident Jenny Fuss appeared as a contestant on the CBS game show “Let's Make a Deal” Thursday. Dressed as a big brown cockroach, Fuss was able to walk away from the show $4,800 richer.

“I always said I was going to go on Let's Make a Deal since I was a little kid,” she told the Yuma Sun.

Fuss was able to get tickets for a taping of the show, and went with her sister-in-law Jennifer Dudley, who was dressed as a chicken.

Fuss was inspired to go as a cockroach by her daughter, who had dressed up as one of the scream invoking insects during a past Halloween.

Being a participant in the gameshow was very enjoyable, Fuss said. The audience was told to dance during commercial breaks, so she decided to do the “Sprinkler.”

“It's funny. When they are doing different camera angles, they play house music and you have to get up and dance because the producers are watching you to see what kind of energy you have. I was rocking it.”

Showing up as a cockroach and doing a funky dance caught the attention of the producers, who asked both Fuss and Dudley to participate in the taping of a second show.

“We stayed and they picked me” to be a contestant, Fuss said, noting she was extremely excited to talk with Wayne Brady, the host of the show. “He is hilarious.”

When she was called, Fuss went into “crazy mode. It was like my body was possessed by some lunatic person.”

She played a game of chance against another audience member involving large purple dice. “Mommy needs a new pair of shoes,” she said as she tossed the dice.

She ended up winning $4,800, but then had to make a decision. Would she keep the money or trade it for something hidden behind curtain number 3?

She chose to keep the money, which was the right choice. The prize hidden behind the curtain was a worthless “Zonk” – a man in a guerilla suit sitting on a motorized couch.

“It felt awesome” to win, Fuss said.

She will use the money to pay for plane tickets so her husband, Marine Corps Major Thomas Fuss, can fly home to Yuma to be with his family. He is currently stationed out of state for training.

“My husband is stationed at another base but we are staying here because of the kids, and I wanted the money so I could buy him plane tickets to come home every month,” she said.

Chris McDaniel can be reached at cmcdaniel@yumasun.com or 539-6849.