Sudbury senior vies for $25K prize in TV gameshow

After filming in Toronto earlier this year, a Sudbury senior is getting her big TV debut in a trivia gameshow with a $25,000 prize.

Ward 7 city councillor Natalie Labbee works at the ParkSide Older Adult Centre as an assistant manager where Lynne Globensky volunteers four days a week.

When CTV contacted the ParkSide Older Adult Centre looking for contestants for the CTV gameshow Battle of the Generations, Labbee urged the spunky senior with purple hair to try out.

"One of the producers from CTV was reaching out to all the senior's active living centers across Ontario I think to try and just get a little bit more diversity for that boomer generation to be contestants on their show," the city councillor said.

"I circulated it among our membership and then I reached out to Lynne personally because I thought she would be a perfect fit for the show."

Labbee helped her put together an audition video showing her outgoing and fun nature and a week later, Globensky got a call saying she would be on the show.

"I actually filmed in February and I've been waiting and waiting to hear when my show would be playing and it's tonight (Oct. 3)! And I'm so excited," Globensky said.

"The show itself is a trivia gameshow and there are four generations: there's a boomer, which that's me, there was a millennial, a Gen X and a Gen Z. And you need to answer trivia questions about each other's generations. It was very much fun!"

As a trivia enthusiast, this was a bucket list experience for her.

"One of my favourite parts was just actually being there, being on TV," Globensky said.

"CTV paid for me to fly from Sudbury to Toronto and they put me up in a five-star, beautiful hotel. I was there actually for two nights and three days. Not all filming days, but that's the time it took. And I met Lilly Singh, she's one of, I've read a lot of her books and she's one of my favourite people, she's just amazing! It was just so fun!"

Earlier this year, right before she found out she was going to be a contestant, Globensky went to a taping of Jeopardy in Las Vegas. She said it was another one of her bucket list items and it gave her an idea of what to expect during her filming.

She said she was surprised that she wasn't nervous while taping the show and said she felt quite comfortable in the spotlight.

"Oh, I would do it a thousand times," Globensky said, adding that she urges anyone that gets the chance to do it.

Because she signed a non-disclosure agreement, she wasn't able to comment on the outcome of her episode, which airs on CTV on Oct. 3 at 9 p.m.

However, Globensky said if she won the $25,000 prize, she would buy new tires for her car, travel and make a donation to the ParkSide seniors' centre.

"They've done a lot for me and I'd love to do a lot back for them," she said.

Globensky did really well, making it to the final two. She eventually lost to her Gen Z opponent, a quiz master who hosts bar trivia, who went on to win $12,000.