Kara Lynn Joyce ‘Comes on Down’ to Win on Price is Right

Kara Lynn Joyce with Price is Right host Drew Carey.

“Kara Lynn Joyce, come on down! You’re the next contestant on The Price is Right!”

Kara Lynn Joyce and Kristy Kowal were just planning on a fun day in Los Angeles, but it quickly turned into something much more — and much more fun as Joyce was called down as a participant on the famous game show.

Joyce and Kowal were on The Price is Right on Feb. 4, and the show aired Tuesday on CBS.

“We were actually going to L.A. for a screening of the movie ‘Olympic Dreams’ and we decided to make a day of it and go to a show. I had done a sitcom before, so I was looking at those that we could see, but then I saw ‘The Price is Right’ and Kristy totally wanted to and we did it,” Joyce told Swimming World.” Kristy and I made matching shirts that said ‘Here to Win Gold’ to tease our Olympic silver medal status and draw a little attention. I mean we are both 6-feet tall in these bright blue shirts.”

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Kara Lynn Joyce and Kristy Kowal; Photo Courtesy: Kara Lynn Joyce

It worked.

Joyce was called down early in the show.

“It is so loud in the audience,” Kara Lynn Joyce said. “I was the second person called down. I run down and two more people get called down. I couldn’t even tell you what the first item was or what I bid. You just kind of black out the whole time. The second item was an Apple laptop. I just bought one last year. I was the last person to bid and I couldn’t hear. Drew Carey was finally like, ‘What is your bid?’ and I won. I went up on stage and had to play the game and it was to win a trip to Montreal.”

Joyce, a three-time Olympic sprinter, was all of a sudden on a different kind of stage, talking to Drew Carey and getting to play Push Over.

“There were a bunch of blocks in a row and push the blocks so one would fall off and the last four had to add up to the value of the trip. So I won the trip. Then I had to wait to spin the wheel,” Joyce said. “Before I spun the wheel, they asked me if I wanted to say hello to anyone out there, and I got excited and gave Kristy a shout out.”

Kara Lynn Joyce didn’t win the wheel, but had a great full-day experience with Kowal, who has been busy hosting webinars as a part of CG Sports Network.

“So I grew up watching The Price is Right,” Kowal said. “I used to take naps after morning practices at UGA and I would set my alarm to wake up in time to watch. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to attend a taping. The whole process was so much fun. We met amazing people while we spent HOURS waiting to be let into the studio. The couple aside of us had a son that was a swimmer, and another couple flew in for the day from the east coast just to attend the taping. The energy during the taping is just like being at a huge swim meet — everyone is cheering and screaming and clapping. It was everything I imagined and more. And right after taping Kara Lynn and I rushed to a movie premier for Olympic Dreams with Alexi Pappas and Nick Kroll. It goes down as one of my favorite days ever.”

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Photo Courtesy: Kristy Kowal

Same goes for Joyce.

“You have to stand in line and you are not guaranteed to get into the audience. We had to wait for like four hours. You get your picture taken and interviewed by producers. But it is a lot of waiting,” she said. “But it was a lot of fun. I am really glad that I did it. It was kind of a childhood dream of mine that I had put away. I feel like we got to fully experience it. Kristy has endless energy so it was fun seeing her out there in the audience.”

Once she grasped the fact that she really was on the show, she wondered if anyone would be around to watch it. Now, during the coronavirus pandemic, plenty of people were home watching, and Joyce said she hoped it brought some people a much-needed smile.

“This all happened before we knew a ton about the virus. Kind of crazy that so many people are home to watch it,” she said. “Hopefully it will make some people laugh.”

One thing is for sure, Kara Joyce and Kristy Kowal will be laughing about it for a long time.

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Kara Lynn Joyce and Kristy Kowal; Photo Courtesy: Kara Lynn Joyce

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Kara Muscillo

4 years ago

That’s awesome.

Janice Maurer

4 years ago

Saw the show today and heard Kara give a shout out to Kristy. Caught my attention since I work at Wilson. Pretty fun trip!

Christine MacAulay

4 years ago

I just watched that episode woo hoo