By Sarah Kuper
When she isn’t playing the role of wife and mother of two, Sarah Kathryn Tarter is wearing her game face.
“I come from a big competitive family,” Tarter said. “We love to play games – and win.”
Tarter said family game night in her household is serious business, but recently she took her competitive nature and knack for trivia games to a whole new level.
After applying and making it through several rounds of interviews, Tarter was selected as a contestant on NBC’s “Hollywood Game Night.”
The show is a competition between two teams participating in assorted party games. The teams are made up of celebrities and contestants.
Most of the games test competitors’ knowledge of pop culture and Hollywood trivia.
Tarter said she has watched the show since its debut a few years ago. She said she imagined she would be a good contestant.
“I have the game show bug. When I saw this show I said, “I’ve got to be on this show.'”
Her journey to taping the show began several months ago.
“I filled out the application online, went upstairs and put the kids to bed, and by the time I came back down I had a phone call from an 818 number – that’s a Los Angeles area code. I did the first interview in a closet.”
Tarter said the screening and interview process was thorough and intense. Casting directors asked her pop culture questions, had her try a few of the games and send pictures.
“I bet I did five or six interviews. I guess all those years reading US Weekly finally paid off!”
Tarter flew out to Los Angeles in November for the taping, but she has been forced to keep details of the episode a secret. Since the network recently released the Feb. 23 episode synopsis, she has been able to talk about the celebrities she competed with on the show.
“I was a contestant with Ke$ha, which was funny because I dressed up as Ke$ha for Halloween a few years ago,” Tarter said.
Rachael Ray and Taye Diggs also were contestants with Tarter.
Tarter signed a strict non-disclosure agreement so she has not been able to divulge any information of what happened during the taping, including whether she won money or prizes.
She said her family has been begging for clues, including her husband, who doesn’t know what happened on the show.
“I’m a talker and being unable to talk about something has been really hard. It’s not like I can call up Rachael Ray and say, ‘Hey, remember this?'”
Tarter said she has even had to be mindful of her actions on social media and her commentary on pop culture when it came to her celebrity co-stars.
“I haven’t even been able to go and like them on social media because my family would pay attention to that,” she said.
Tarter’s family and friends were planning to watch the episode Feb. 23 at WorkPlay. They’ll celebrate and recreate the “Hollywood Game Night” setting by drinking champagne and having snacks.
Tarter said that, even though she has caught the game show bug, she doesn’t think any other show experience could be better than “Hollywood Game Night.”
