Students in the choir program at Burbank High School, located a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, received a huge surprise on October 4, 2025. During the school day, they got to watch a preview screener of the “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” episode that was scheduled to premiere on ABC that night. The young singers excitedly watched as comedic actress and HGTV star Retta tried to win money for their Burbank Youth Vocal Arts Foundation.
And boy, did she ever. Competing against New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre and actor Oliver Hudson, Retta won a staggering $172,200 for the program. As soon as the students saw her win big on TV, she shocked them all by waltzing into their choir room — and they immediately swarmed her with hugs, screaming with excitement.
Retta’s ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Donation Will Help Fund Burbank’s Independently Funded Arts Program
Retta’s surprise visit and huge check was a major thrill for the students, who could be seen chanting in her name over and over in a video posted by the high school’s arts program, which said “this generous donation will help secure the future of the foundation, keeping arts and music alive for generations of Burbank students to come.”
The self-funded arts curriculum at Burbank High School includes one of the nation’s best-known and award-winning high school choir programs, but relies on donations to exist, per the foundation’s website.
Although Retta grew up in New Jersey, numerous celebrities are alumni of the arts program at Burbank High School, including Dove Cameron, Blake Lively, and opera singer Julie Adams.
Retta Inspires High School Singers, Telling Them to ‘Earnestly’ Follow Their Passions
Retta spoke to the students, telling them that she, too, was enrolled in choir as a high schooler.
“I was a choir girl, I liked classical,” she said in a video shared by the “Wheel of Fortune” social media account, singing a line of opera. “I was pre-med in college. I left it to come (to L.A.) to be a performer. So, you all, whatever it is you want to do, earnestly go after it, and if it is performing, get it.”
After the impromptu choir room pep fest over Retta’s donation, the “Ugliest House in America” and “Scariest House in America” star told Los Angeles station ABC7, “They’re obviously excited, and I really hope that we can get our communities to support art in public schools. There is never enough to get money to get students, you know, to their events and to pay for costuming and what have you, so this will hopefully hold them over.”
