Vanna White admits that Wheel of Fortune doesn’t really need her: ‘But people love watching what I’m wearing’
The cohost says she’s flaunted “over 8,000 outfits” during her four-decade tenure on the game show.
Wheel of Fortune‘s hostess with the mostest, Vanna White, has admitted that the show could continue to spin without her.
The game show staple recently joked about her place behind the wheel while looking back on how things have changed over the years since she’s been there. After calling it “so energetic” these days, she told Parade, “And my role on the puzzle board has changed. When I first started, I had to physically turn every letter. Then they switched to TV monitors, so I just had to touch the letters and they would light up.”
“Now the board is operated by a laser,” added White. “It’s like a flat screen. And when I go to touch the letter, the laser catches my movement. It’s crazy, right?”
Watch Vanna White pay tribute to Pat Sajak ahead of his final Wheel of Fortune episode: ‘I love you, Pat’
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Her remarks led the interviewer to ponder, “So if the letters can light up automatically…”
To which White quickly replied, “I’m telling you right now, don’t say it. They need me!”
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Vanna White.Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty
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She then confessed, “With all the electronics today, obviously they could do it without me.”
However, she added, it’s about more than flipping those letters. “But people love watching what I’m wearing,” she said. “I’ve worn over 8,000 outfits. So I think the audience likes to see if I’m wearing red today, or blue. Is it going to be elegant or short? My wardrobe is a big part of it.”
White has been part of Wheel of Fortune for more than four decades, first joining in 1982 alongside host Pat Sajak, who replaced Chuck Woolery just a year before White’s arrival. The former model has since become synonymous with the show, so much so that her previous comments about how she contemplated leaving it after Sajak’s retirement opened a floodgate of emotions among fans.
“When I heard that Pat was retiring, I thought maybe I should retire too. But I’m not ready!” White told TVLine earlier this year.
The cohost has since extended her contract for two more years alongside new host Ryan Seacrest, but she has also admitted that she’s not sure what the future holds beyond that. “We’ll see toward the end of those two years how I feel,” she said. “I thank God after all these years that I still love my job.”
