A St. Paul man was chosen as a contestant on “Let’s Make a Deal” and participated from the comfort of his own living room.

Alex Maves, 34, said he has been watching “Let’s Make a Deal” since he was a kid. He said he would watch it with his grandmother while she was babysitting him and his brother, which is the story he told in his application for the show.

“My grandma loves it,” he said. “My brother loves it. He’s a nurse, but he works nights so he watches it every day.”

Although the show airs during his work hours, Maves said he still likes to “sneak in a ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ or ‘Price Is Right’ episode every once in a while.”

Maves said what inspired him to apply to the show was when he saw a “Let’s Make a Deal” episode where a 24-year-old won a $10,000 trip to Croatia.

He said he didn’t even know the first step of getting on the show, but he resolved to try.

“I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna go on ‘Let’s Make a Deal.'”

Maves initially expected to fly out to California, but since COVID-19, contestants also can participate remotely on “Let’s Make a Deal at Home.”

He said he filmed himself from his home living room on a Tuesday for nearly seven hours, so he had to ask his boss for a day off of work. “I was like, ‘I don’t know the protocol, but I’m not working that day.'”

“He was like, wait, wait, wait, you’re gonna be on ‘Let’s Make a Deal?’ … I hope you win.”

So did he win?

He was offered a choice between $1,000 cash or a $500 Target gift card plus a mystery add-on, which could turn out to be a bad “Zonk” deal. He took the risk and won the $500 gift card plus an e-bike, a single-speed bike and a bike rack, a package worth more than $3,600.

You can watch his episode, which aired Dec. 8, at cbs.com/shows/lets_make_a_deal.

Even while filming from home, contestants were still expected to dress up in elaborate costumes, so naturally as a Minnesotan who plays hockey, Maves decided to dress up as a hockey referee with a backdrop of his dad’s old hockey equipment.

Host Wayne Brady pointed out the scoreboard on the wall that said “Alex, 1. Zonk, 0.”

“I love that!” Brady said.

Maves said Brady was a wonderful host, good at calming contestants’ nerves.

“I kind of blacked out as soon as I got called,” he said. “I don’t even really remember what I said.”