Vanna White
Buy three vowels and you’ve got it: Vanna White. The Wheel of Fortune spinner and host Pat Sajak visited Waikoloa recently to tape a series of Hawaii shows that begin airing Wednesday. Inside, Vanna sits down with MidWeek to talk about her wonderful life. Since 1982 Vanna White Has Been Lending A Hand To Pat Sajak On The Hit Game Show ‘wheel Of Fortune’. America’s No. 1 game show, Wheel of Fortune, airs its recent taped
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Since 1982 Vanna White Has Been Lending A Hand To Pat Sajak On The Hit Game Show ‘wheel Of Fortune’
America’s No. 1 game show, Wheel of Fortune, airs its recent taped-in-Hawaii shows throughout November featuring Hawaii contestants and, of course, America’s favorite female TV co-host Vanna White.
Since her debut on Wheel of Fortune in 1982, White has become a household name globally. The nationally syndicated game show is in its 26th season, and according to Wheel of Fortune, surveys have shown that White’s presence contributes greatly to the show’s phenomenal ratings.
On screen she wears glamourous gowns, touches a screen (she no longer turns it) and claps - a lot. So much, that she’s in The Guinness Book of World Records as Television’s Most Frequent Clapper, averaging 720 claps per episode, which calculates to 28,000 per season.
“My job is quite easy,” admits White. “I don’t know what the hardest part is about my job - knowing the entire alphabet. There really isn’t anything hard about my job.”
White grew up in the small resort town of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, attended the Atlanta School of Fashion Design and became one of the area’s top models. She eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, and two years later, while competing against 200 other hopefuls, was picked for the job she still holds today.
Throughout her career, White has grown to be one of the most sought-after celebrities to showcase top designer fashions. At last count, she has worn more than 5,100 different designer outfits at the puzzleboard.
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For five of the shows taped in Hawaii, White will have on fashions by local designer Anne Namba, such as the one she’s wearing in the picture to the right.
“I’m very excited (about wearing Anne Namba’s designs),” says White. “It’s been an honor that she would make clothes for me. Wait until you see them. They’re pretty.”
While White has become a well-known fashion icon, ironically, her personal day-to-day wardrobe is completely opposite from what people are used to seeing her in. Off-screen she’s usually sporting simple jeans, a T-shirt, and flip flops or tennis shoes.
In fact, her least favorite thing about her job is wearing high heels.
“On the show I have some high ones,” she explains. “And we do five or six shows a day, so I’m wearing high heels all day long, and it’s a long day.”
Not only are they uncomfortable, it also can be dangerous. White confesses she has tripped several times, but only one was seen on TV.
“The puzzleboard is two steps up and I came down to congratulate the winner who just won a new car and I missed the last step,” recalls White. “And you saw me disappear behind the car but I wasn’t hurt, I was fine.
“They could’ve retaped it but they didn’t because when I went to congratulate the guy, he said ‘Did you have a nice trip?‘So they decided to keep it.”
At Wheel of Fortune, White and her co-host Pat Sajak report to duty only 35 days of the year. And while most people immediately think of these two at any mention of the popular show, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes.
For example, the recent trip to the Big Island included more than 225 staff and crewmembers from Los Angeles and other Mainland cities, plus the hiring of about 200 local crew, including stage crew, production managers, drivers, teamsters, electricians, greensmen, security, heavy equipment operators and production assistants.
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