Vanna White has been dazzling and charming the audience on Wheel of Fortune for the last 40+ years. She first graced the stage in 1982. She was nervous to audition for the gig. She even recalls shaking. Showrunner Merv Griffin was sold the second he saw Vanna and Pat Sajak's chemistry, cementing her as one-half of one of TV's favorite duos.
Since then, Vanna has been a smiling face and a kind presence on the show. While Vanna is known for her cheery demeanor, she's gone through difficult times just like everyone else. In those moments, she's found comfort in Wheel of Fortune fans, who hold her as close to their hearts as she holds them.
In a 2019 sit-down with People, Vanna opened up about some of the struggles she's encountered in her life since joining Wheel of Fortune, and how the show's audience has helped her get through her darkest hours.
Vanna White remembers being full of nerves when she auditioned for Wheel of Fortune in 1982. She tells People that while she was so nervous she was shaking, Merv Griffin was sold on her from the moment he saw her interact with Pat Sajak.
"He said it was like brotherly and sisterly chemistry," Vanna recalled of Merv's reaction. Vanna says that she and Pat have always gotten along well, only having had one real fight recently — over whether or not it's gross to put ketchup on a hot dog.
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While it's usually fun and games among the Wheel of Fortune family, there have been some difficult times, too. When tragedy struck Vanna's personal life, the audience and her cohost were there to provide her support.
In 1986, Vanna lost her then-fiancé, the Young and the Restless actor John Gibson, when a plane he was flying crashed outside Van Nuys Airport near Los Angeles. "It was May 17, 1986," Vanna recalled. "The second I heard about it, I fell to my knees. It was just devastating."
It was the show's audience who provided her endless comfort during that time. "I heard from so many people who had shared the same experience of losing someone instantly in an accident, and that really helped me," she explained.
"I didn’t feel like I was alone," she continued. "Because when something like that happens, you immediately think you’re the only one." Her fans' support would be helpful to Vanna at other points in her life as well.
In 1990, Vanna married restaurateur George Santo Pietro. Two years later, she became pregnant with their first child. Excited to tell the world, Vanna unveiled the news in a puzzle. The solved puzzle read "Vanna's pregnant."
Sadly, she miscarried a week later. "I so wanted to be pregnant and have a baby, so then when I finally got pregnant, I wanted to tell the world immediately," she said. "Obviously I lost the baby, which was devastating after announcing it."
Vanna went on to have two children, Gigi and Niko. "The good news is I was able to get pregnant again and had two beautiful, healthy children. … But losing a child — there’s nothing good about that."
Family, friends, and fans were all supportive of Vanna after the miscarriage. "You have to take their support and try to be strong. It’s so hard, but you just have to think, ‘What would they want me to do?’"
Her faith was also a tremendous comfort. "I’m a Christian and have always had my own personal relationship with God," she says. "I don’t preach about it, because everyone’s entitled to their own beliefs. But I pray. I pray every day."
Vanna and George's marriage ended amicably in 2002. She found love again in real estate developer John Donaldson. The two met at a mutual friend's barbecue and hit it off. "I remember looking at him and thinking, ‘He’s really cute,’" she laughed.
"We ended up talking for a long time that night," she continued. The two have been together ever since. They live together today. "It just works. He lets me be me, I let him be him. There is no drama."
Vanna loves her job and the family she's found in it. She has no plans to retire. "We’re one big family," she says of the show's cast and crew. "It’s wonderful." Certainly, it's wonderful for all of us to see Vanna's smiling face each night.
