Guys,
If someone gets tickets to the show and they are called to "Come on Down!"
1.) When can they contractually break their silence about when their episode airs?
Officially, not until the episode actually airs, and this is something they hammer home during the post-show contestant briefing. That said, if you're a big winner, CBS will contact you and ask if they can talk to the press about your appearance about a week before your show airs. In my case, I agreed, and my friends saw the first newspaper article a couple of days before the show aired. The first article was just "he attended the show", then the second article, which came out the day after the show aired, gave the details.
2.) If they can't say anything, does that mean they got picked? Or does the same rule apply if you never get out of the audience?
Not necessarily, as technically, the paperwork you sign when you arrive says that no matter what, you're not supposed to share anything about the show until it airs, including whether you were called down or not. That said, most people don't read the paperwork so they don't know that, plus, what can CBS/Fremantle do if you say you weren't called to come on down? They can't take away prizes you didn't win.
In my case, I saw my family the week after the taping I was called, and when I didn't give any details about what happened, they got suspicious; my brother in law theorized I would just say it if I hadn't been called and my sister directly asked, "So, when you got on stage, did Drew shake your hand?" My uncle told me he needed a new car just in case I won one and didn't know what to do with it. Of course, I stayed silent the whole time until the show aired
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