An Arkansas Tech University student will appear next week as a competitor on a CBS game show.
After Shelby Benefield’s fiancé got tickets to attend a taping of Let’s Make A Deal in June, she got out a squirrel costume for the occasion, the 21-year-old said in an interview Tuesday. Boarding the plane from Arkansas to Los Angeles, she carried it in a vacuum-sealed bag.
“I’ve loved squirrels since I was maybe 10,” she said. “It’s just always been my thing.”
Over the years, Benefield's friends have given her plenty of squirrel-themed items, including a picture frame surrounded by squirrels, a bowl shaped like a squirrel and the full-sized squirrel costume she appeared in on the show.
Before the episode, she hadn’t found much use for the costume beyond the camp where she worked one summer. The show seemed like the perfect opportunity to use it — until she was leaning against an inflatable wall in the California heat.
"It was pretty hot," she said.
On the show, hosted by Wayne Brady, contestants compete to win prizes and try to avoid "Zonks." Benefield's episode is set to air Oct. 20.