Vanna White’s ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Origin Story Will Surprise You
Ryan Seacrest‘s inaugural season as host of Wheel of Fortune is well under way, after Pat Sajak stepped down from the role after the conclusion of Season 41. Any major transition on a beloved series will not be without a few hiccups, and the audience has taken their time warming up to the update. But Seacrest is no rookie when it comes to hosting TV, as anyone who is a fan of American Idol will tell you. Beyond his personable aura, Seacrest is also a veteran TV producer himself, as he was a co-creator and executive producer of the wildly popular reality series, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
While Seacrest settles comfortably into his new role, the audience has been especially nostalgic about losing Sajak at the helm of the series. It seemed that many viewers still longed for the familiarity of the long-continued era where Sajak could be trusted to appear each weeknight with his lovely co-star Vanna White flipping the letters with her legendary grace and poise. It is understandable that viewers will miss their favorite host, but they can take comfort in the thought that although Sajak has departed the series, White has renewed her contract for another two years, so there will be continuity as the series transitions to a new era.
It seems like Sajak’s retirement hit a little harder, coming on the heels of the loss of beloved host of Jeopardy!, Alex Trebek, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2020. The search for a permanent replacement for Trebek caused a demi-scandal as loyal viewers rebelled at the thought of an executive producer filling the role, and took their time warming to the sequence of temporary guest hosts that stepped in as host before the network finally made the decision to make Ken Jenning‘s guest spot a more permanent arrangement. Wheel of Fortune viewers can take comfort in the continuity that White remaining on the series will bring. And dedicated fans of the word puzzle show will be delighted to know that the remaining host has a detailed resumé when it comes to some of the biggest game shows in entertainment.
If It Wasn’t for ‘The Price Is Right’ The World Might Not Know Vanna White
The beloved game show host appeared in another famous competition series at one time as well. In September 2021, Wheel of Fortune aired a 50th anniversary primetime special which revealed that in 1980, White had appeared in another fan-favorite competition series, The Price Is Right. White told Parade that as a newcomer to Los Angeles, she wanted to be on TV so badly because “I wanted to give people a good feeling – try to show them kindness, be a good person.” Once the bubbly aspiring actress bounced up to the Price Is Right podium in a baby-blue T-shirt that read “Get Serious,” legendary game show host Bob Barker slyly remarked that a male crew member watching on the monitor backstage saw the beautiful blonde’s T-shirt slogan and had commented, “I am.” White did not go on to win anything in her appearance on the series, but it is clear that she made an impression.
Fame Came for Vanna After Her Game Show Debut
Two years after her appearance in Price Is Right, White was in the audience of yet another series, the lesser known Dance Fever. Merv Griffin was the creator of the series, as well as of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. White told Parade about her persistence when she heard Wheel of Fortune was auditioning women to replace the current co-host who famously flipped the letters on the word puzzle series. She convinced a friend who worked on Dance Fever to get her a seat in the audience and introduced herself to Griffin’s “right-hand man,” who slipped her a business card and told her she could have an audition.
White described having a case of nerves at her audition, convincing herself that there was no way she had landed the job once she left. But a week later, on the day before Thanksgiving in 1982, Griffin made the final decision. White was competing for the role against a close friend and one other hopeful, but she charmed in her audition and landed the role. When White had the opportunity to ask Griffin what made him choose her over the other women, the entertainment industry legend had a simple response: “You turned the letters better than anyone else.” White also turned her hosting position into a lasting career, and has been an inspirational role-model in the entertainment community for more than forty years.
New episodes of Wheel of Fortune air nightly on broadcast TV.
