Vanna White says she and Ryan Seacrest have settled into an easy rhythm on Wheel of Fortune, more than a year after he took over the show. White, 69, said their off-screen friendship made the transition feel familiar when Seacrest stepped in after Pat Sajak retired in June 2024.
“Ryan and I have been friends for over 20 years, so when he stepped into this position, it was like a good friend,” White said. “We’ve never worked together, but we’re both from the south, and we both are the same kind of person so we have just bonded. We work off of each other. He’s professional, he’s kind, he’s hard working and it’s great to work with him.”
White has been a fixture on television for more than 40 years, joining Wheel of Fortune in 1982 when Sajak was already hosting. Her day starts early. She said she shows up around seven o'clock, does a little fitting for dresses that may be used on future shows, then hair and makeup before the first taping. The show usually records five or six episodes in a day.
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That routine has produced a rare catalogue of mistakes, but White said she has made one memorable one only once. She recalled turning the wrong letter on a puzzle that was either Dr. Spock or Mr. Spock. “I turned the M or the D and it was not the letter they called,” she said. “What they [the producers] did was throw the puzzle out and put another puzzle in. But I only did it once.”
White is also using her longtime association with the show for a new charity push with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Wheel of Fortune WishMaker initiative is designed to help grant wishes to children facing serious illnesses, and White said the campaign is meant to pull more people in and make them feel part of something good.
Among the auction items are a show-worn Bob Mackie dress, her Glamjamas, signed wheel wedges alongside Sajak and Seacrest, and a VIP Wheel of Fortune taping experience. White called the work with Mackie an honor, saying he was “so nice and kind and so talented,” and said the pajamas had to be glammed up with sequins and fluffy things. “I think it’s really important because it’s such a great cause,” she said. “Everybody wants to feel good about something, and this is so special.” For White, the pitch is simple: Wheel of Fortune is still a game show, but on this project it is also a way to turn a familiar television brand into wishes granted for children who need them most.
