She Set A World Record For Burpees. Now NJ Woman Is Taking On 'Wheel Of Fortune'

POINT PLEASANT, NJ — "Wheel of Fortune" fans from Point Pleasant got to see one of their own Thursday evening, as Gena Laielli spun the wheel and solved puzzles on the show.

Laielli, 41, grew up in Point Pleasant across from St. Martha's Church. Now she lives in Northfield, where she is a nurse and owns GenFitness in Somers Point with her brother, Vincent Rivera.

Thursday night, Laielli solved two puzzles, finishing the first and second ones, and solved one of the triple toss-up puzzles to win $7,300 and finish second.

"Wheel of Fortune" is her favorite TV show, and she and her family watch it all the time and play the board game, she said. So in December 2022 she applied to be a contestant.

"I’ve always been told I should go on, and I like to do crazy things, so why not," she told Patch. "I did an audition video in my bedroom in my pajamas, no makeup, fresh out of the shower and my kids were downstairs playing Mario Kart and screaming."

A few months after she submitted the video she received an email for a virtual audition with the producer.

"They asked a little about myself and then said I would be receiving another email for a second audition, and if I get that audition, bring all the energy like I drank 5 cups of coffee! Not a problem lol!" she said.

For that audition she had to solve puzzles with two other potential contestants, and about a month later was invited to go compete on the show.

"I was in disbelief because never in a million years did I think I would get picked!" Laielli said. They flew out to Los Angeles in August.

"It was the BEST EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD!!" she said. "The support from the production crew and the other contestants that were there with me was so welcoming! They made you feel so comfortable and the energy was FLOWING!! My kinda style."

At the show, she got to know other contestants competing during the same week of episodes where she was scheduled to appear, and made friends with a number of people.

"We got to experience this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and let me tell you, it was AMAZING!" Laeilli wrote.

"I was on another fitness reality show back in the day and broke a Guinness Record for burpees back in 2020," she said. "This experience doesn’t even come close to what I’ve done in the past!"

Laielli's Guinness World Record in 2020 was for most burpees by a woman in 12 hours — 5,332 — a feat she did to raise funds for research into omphalocele, a rare birth defect where a baby's intestines or other abdominal organs are outside of the body. Her daughter, Emma, was born with the defect and treated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, according to a 2020 Daily Mail report. The mark was broken by a Virginia woman in 2022.

Laielli spoke at length about Emma's condition and life-saving treatments on the Tom Rowland Podcast in 2020. You can watch it on YouTube. The family's journey also was chronicled by CHOPon the hospital's website.

Emma is now 10, and "has come such a long way," Laeilli said. "You should see her play ice hockey lol! She’s a beast!"