“Since (Malagisi) really wanted to get married and propose he wrote in to the show,” said Bruce, who now lives in Powell, Ohio. “...They called him a week after he called in and they said they wanted to do it but couldn’t do the wedding, but they could make me princess for a day.”
The Oprah Winfrey Show set up a fake casting call at the Easton Shopping Mall in Columbus and Malagisi took her to the audition, Bruce said. After trying out for the “audition,” Cinderella’s footmen approached her and said she was needed at the castle.
“We packed our bags and left that night,” she said. She said she was crying and shaking when she got the news.
The two spent three days in Disney World, eating at the Epcot Center, touring the theme park and dancing with princesses. Bruce said she and Malagisi were the first people to ride in Cinderella’s coach other than the park employees.
The two taped Oprah’s show on April 30, and got to meet the talk show host and other celebrities such as Johnny Depp.
Meeting Oprah “was very humbling,” Bruce said. “She’s everything you’d think she would be.”
The experience was perfect timing for Bruce, who said she has struggled to find a job with her psychology degree since graduating.
“It was just such a stress reliever, I didn’t think of any of that while I was away, and I’m not thinking about it now, I’m on such a high,” she said. “The thought that someone did this for me showed me good things do happen to good people.”
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