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Local man competes on game show The Hustler

He recalls having to be extremely secretive on set, and wasn't even allowed to have his phone with him.

BYRON CENTER, Mich. — Before ending up on The Hustler, John Rush actually auditioned for a different game show entirely.

"They said, we'll get back to you. And of course they didn't, they had 30,000 people try out for it," says Rush.

Following the initial disappointment, he got a call to appear on a new show that had never aired before.

"I didn't even know what the show was when they contacted me," says Rush.

He recalls having to be extremely secretive on set, and wasn't even allowed to have his phone with him.

"They isolate you the entire time," he says. "You're not allowed to talk to anybody, you're not allowed to do anything."

On set, Rush enjoyed interacting with host Craig Ferguson, who he originally thought was wearing poorly fitting clothes.

"It looked like a tuxedo from the 80s that you got for a prom and you decided to put it back on," remembers Rush. "But on camera it looks really good! It just shows you the perception of reality."

After filming the show in December 2019, Rush became concerned when it didn't air at all in 2020.

"When I hadn't heard anything for a while, I thought well maybe they decided it just isn't going to show," says Rush.

But he was thrilled when he heard the show got picked up. He says if given the chance he would return to a game show in a heartbeat.

"If someone offered me to come out and be on a game show where you just run around a track, I'd still probably do it just for fun," says Rush. "It's a fun thing. It's a free trip to L.A. even if you don't win!"

Rush is also a musician who performs shows across the country, using the nickname "The Human iPod".

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