Cannon gets her game on, wins $25K from 'Ellen'

Friday, November 13, 2009
By JOHN I. CARNEY ~ jcarney@t-g.com

Ashley Cannon has been a fan of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" for some time, but now she has 25,000 more reasons to enjoy it.

Cannon, the daughter of Times-Gazette advertising representative Janis Cannon, won $25,000 on an episode of the show which will be broadcast at 3 p.m. today on WTVF-TV (Channel 5) as part of a "game week" on the show.

The week was sponsored by Hasbro toys, and Cannon qualified for the finals by winning a game earlier in the week based on the Hasbro board game Guesstures. For today's show, taped on Thursday, she had to compete with another player in a combination quiz and footrace. Both players were dressed in inflatable sumo wrestler costumes, and as DeGeneres asked questions the players had to run towards a toy football. The player who grabbed the football got a chance to answer the question.

"It was a blast," said Cannon. The sumo wrestler costumes made it hard to maneuver but provided cushioning when both players fell.

"I've always wanted to go to the Ellen show," said Cannon. She went online to see about getting tickets. Cannon has a birthday the same week as her friend Lauralee Gordon, and the two women decided to make a birthday trip to the Warner Bros. studios in Los Angeles to see the show. (Cannon turned 25, Gordon 24.) She says the producers liked their southern accents, which probably led to them being chosen to compete on the show earlier in the week.

Cannon had nothing but kind words for DeGeneres.

"She was really nice, and very positive, just like on the show," Cannon said. She didn't get to meet today's marquee guest, "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, but saw him from a distance. In 2010, DeGeneres will begin appearing as a judge on "American Idol," while continuing to host her daily talk show.

Cannon is about to graduate from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in marketing and also works as an X-ray technician at Murfreesboro Medical Clinic. She said she has no specific plans for her winnings.

"I'll probably just put it in the bank," she said.

Comments

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Man, she is pretty darn agile in that suit. But I guess I would be too for 25,000 dollars. She really worked for it.

-- Posted by Evil Monkey on Fri, Nov 13, 2009, at 10:51 AM

I coached her in soccer and she is extremely fast. I would have been hurt if she had lost. Way to represent Ashley. haha Coach Gordon

-- Posted by gordo1965 on Fri, Nov 13, 2009, at 3:02 PM

hey gordo... i miss being in ur class.

-- Posted by mrs.v.raney on Fri, Nov 13, 2009, at 5:43 PM

Congrats Ms. Cannon. I am not surprised that you won. YOu are very fortunate and your mom must be proud. You come from good stock :) Love to all.

-- Posted by grannyoldknow on Sun, Nov 15, 2009, at 3:13 AM

Way to go Ashley! You are still a doll!

-- Posted by Juju35 on Mon, Nov 16, 2009, at 9:09 AM