‘With all the electronics today, obviously they could do it without me’
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Wheel of Fortune personality Vanna White has admitted that the long-running game show doesn’t really need her.
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White, 67, has been turning letters on the program since she joined Wheel of Fortune back in 1982, and in a new interview with Parade, she reflects how her “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,” she said. “Now the board is operated by a laser. It’s like a flat screen. And when I go to touch the letter, the laser catches my movement. It’s crazy, right?”
When the interviewer heard that last line, they hinted that maybe her services are no longer required as they wondered aloud, “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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White then admitted that “with all the electronics today, obviously they could do it without me,” but offered up her answer for why her popularity has endured over the years.
“People love watching what I’m wearing,” she quipped. “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? Young people think, Could that look be good for a bridal shower? My wardrobe is a big part of it.”
After longtime host Pat Sajak, 77, announced he was retiring at the end of the show’s 41st season last summer, producers tapped Ryan Seacrest to take over.
White returned for the iconic game show’s 42nd season alongside Seacrest earlier this month.
Ahead of its premiere, White revealed the key piece of advice she gave Seacrest in an interview with Good Morning America.
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“When he came on, I said, ‘Just be yourself.’ That’s the best advice I can give you and he has been himself,” White said.
White also opened up about why she decided to stay on with Wheel of Fortune for at least two more seasons after Sajak’s departure.
“It’s such a happy show. It’s fun, too,” White added. “It never gets old. There’s always new puzzles. I have a new dress. You never know what’s going to be said.”
Sajak’s last episode of the game show aired in June, with White praising her longtime TV partner in an emotional tribute video.
White called Sajak “a true friend” as she honoured their time in front of the camera before he signed off from the program.
“I don’t know how to put into words what these past 41 years have meant to me, but I’m going to try,” White said in a tribute video shared to YouTube. “8,000 episodes went by like that. When I first started, I was so green. You made me so comfortable and made me so confident, Pat. You made me who I am, you really did. As the years have gone by, we’ve grown up on television, but we’ve also shared so much more behind the scenes.”
In an interview with TVLine earlier this year, White acknowledged that she thought about departing the show when Sajak left. “When I heard that Pat was retiring, I thought maybe I should retire too. But I’m not ready!”
As for how long she’ll stick around, White told the outlet that she’ll make up her mind when her current deal ends in two years.
“I thank God after all these years that I still love my job,” she said.
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