San Ramon Nurse Makes Appearance on National Game Show

DeShae Alcorn, RN, BSN, ICU nurse at San Ramon Regional Medical Center, made an appearance on the Sunday, March 7, 2021, episode of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

“It’s still surreal that I was on a national television show I grew up watching. I was in awe looking around the studio. I was extremely humbled and honored to be there,” DeShae said.

DeShae initially applied for a game show where participants competed to remove student loan debt. She received a call from producers in July 2020 saying they were no longer doing that show and asked if she would be interested in being a contestant on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. She said yes without hesitation. This season features both celebrity contestants playing for charity and frontline heroes.

“I am a self-proclaimed game night queen and can be very competitive when watching game shows with family. Needless to say, I felt ready,” DeShae said. “The process was very long and I had to do a number of pre-screening forms, quizzes, phone and video interviews but it was all very worth it.”

DeShae was able to bring the smartest person she knows to help with some of the questions, so she brought her dad along. They drove down to Culver City in August 2020 for the taping of the show.

“It was definitely very hard keeping it a secret. I just reminded [those who asked], if I say anything I won’t get paid and most people left it at that,” DeShae said. “No one was more inquisitive than my mom though.”

DeShae walked away from the show with $32,000. She says she’s hoping to use some of her winnings as a down payment on a condo and the rest she wants to use to start a program for youth and teens to help educate them on sexual health.