Driftwood woman no millionaire, but...

Danyle Geist, of Driftwood, was recently on the popular TV gameshow "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" which aired Monday at 7 p.m. James Moate photo

A Driftwood woman appeared before millions of TV viewers Monday night.

Danyle Geist of Driftwood was a contestant on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?," a hit show on the ABC television network. She left New York City not with a million, but with a nice consolation prize of $8,000. Even after deducting her travel expenses, Geist had a nice nest egg and lots of memories.

" It was like talking to friends that you haven't seen in awhile," Geist said of the cast and supporting crew at ABC. "They were so nice, very friendly, very accommodating."

Once the show actually started, however, she became nervous. She chalked up much of that to lack of time to prepare.

"They called me on Friday and told me that they would start interviews on Monday, giving me just the weekend to make travel preparations and other arrangements," she pointed out.

Geist, a 31-year-old mother, had hopes of earning enough money to buy a house. But she stumbled on a question about an urban clothing brand. She had the option of placing an on-air telephone call for help, but chose not to.

"I knew that none of my phone contacts would know it either," Geist said.

After the taping, Danyle did call her contacts, just to see if she was right, and each confirmed that the pop culture question had stumped them as well.

Geist qualified for the show through an initial registration over the Internet, followed by an interview in New York and completion of a questionnaire. She was accompanied on the trip by her mother, Melissa.

Geist is a volunteer EMT with Sinnemahoning Volunteer Fire Department. She watched Monday's show with friends at The Willows in Sinnemahoning, where she works part-time.