By Dana Williams
, when he noticed an advertisement for the show's "Play to Pay for Your Wedding Edition."
Since the couple - who have been together for nearly two years - were planning a July wedding, the idea at playing for some extra bucks to help pay for the ceremony had them hooked.
To prepare for the couple's edition of the show, the bride-to-be said the couple watched the Game Show Network and frequently played the board and online versions of "Millionaire."
They took the next step recently and traveled to New York City with excitement, only to be told that the couple's show was booked. Confrey and Orlandi, both 26, were initially disappointed. Confrey, however, said she quickly received good news from producers.
"The producers overbooked couples for the show, so we didn't make it on together but they asked me to come back as an individual contestant on the show the next day," she said.
Confrey, 26, said she was excited when she was chosen out of thousands of people to be a contestant.
"Being on a television show is exciting because it's not something that happens everyday," she said.
The show - which aired on ABC on April 9 - featured Confrey, a special education teacher and track coach at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, answering questions about various subjects ranging from movies to world history. Confrey said that her students also helped her to prepare by asking her trivia questions everyday at school.
"I don't think the questions that I had were really hard, they were just things that I didn't know," she said. "I happen to be very book smart but some of the questions were general knowledge questions and my fiancé was better at those."
After guessing incorrectly on an $8,000 movie question about actor Richard Dreyfuss, the lifelong Baldwin resident walked away with $1,000.
"When you're up there and they ask you the questions, you think less about the answer and more about not looking like an idiot," she said. "I was extremely nervous also."
Although she had to be at the studio early in the morning, Confrey said that she still enjoyed the game show atmosphere while she waited backstage at the show's studio in New York City.
One of the perks about being on the show was meeting the show's host, Meredith Vieira. "Meredith was really nice and a really down to earth person," she said. "She was very reassuring also because she didn't want you to be nervous."
Another highlight of being a contestant was the support she received from her family, friends and students, Confrey said. Her mother, Rosemary, sat in the audience while Vieira asked Confrey questions in the show's "hot seat."
"I have never gone to a television show before, so being in the audience was very interesting," her mother said. "Heather was very brave to go on the show by herself but she did good and we're very proud of her."
While she was excited about making her television debut, Confrey said she was focused on winning the money to help pay for her wedding in July. Confrey and Orlandi have been together for a year and nine months after they met through the online dating service Match.com.
"It sounds really cliché but I knew right away that he was the one for me," she said. "I was very skeptical about Match.com because I felt like I'm not that desperate but it really was worth it. I would tell all the non-believers out there to just take a chance."
Orlandi, of Medford, proposed to Confrey while she was teaching a class. "He had spoken to my teacher's assistant beforehand and set everything up and my students knew he was coming to propose," she explained. "We talked about getting engaged before but I had no idea that he would do it like that, so it was really nice."
The couple's wedding ceremony will be held at St. Christopher's Church and they recently purchased a home in Wantagh.
"We were also looking at houses based on what we would win on the show," she joked. If she ever received the chance to be on the show again, Confrey said she wouldn't think twice about it.
"Being a contestant on the show is something I would do again because it was an overall great experience and it is definitely something that I am going to remember."
