For The First Time In Her 37 Years On The Show, Vanna White Hosted "Wheel Of Fortune" Last Night
NY Times - For 37 years, Vanna White has sashayed back and forth across the “Wheel of Fortune” stage, revealing tens of thousands of consonants and vowels and making five-inch heels look easy. (By one estimate, she’s walked more than 2,000 miles on that stage.)
On Monday evening, for the first time, White, 62, stepped away from the big letter board and into the role of host, beginning a three-week stint leading the classic game show — and kicking off her heels while she’s at it.
On Nov. 8, “Wheel of Fortune” producers announced that the longtime host Pat Sajak, 73, had emergency surgery to correct a blocked intestine. Since the show was in the middle of taping, it needed a fill-in while Sajak recuperated. So White, a durable icon of American entertainment but mostly silent during the games, was asked to take the wheel. The request was a surprise to White, to say the least.
“I’ve never even thought of that in 37 years,” White said in an interview last week, “and to be asked almost on the spot, ‘How do you feel about hosting the show?’ Like, what?!”
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Vanna White is such an enigma. Everyone knows who Vanna White is. Everyone has seen her on TV in their life. Her name is in rap songs non-stop. She’s been on TV pretty much every day for 37 straight years (and has looked hot as hell every single year, sup Vanna?). But if you saw Vanna White at the grocery store, would you know it was her? She has to be the most famous person in the world who everyone has seen a million times who at the same time can hide in plain sight.
And now, after 37 years of turning letters, she stepped up to the Wheel and took over hosting duties for Pat while he underwent an emergency surgery. 37 years as the sous chef and she finally cooked her first meal. It’s actually sort of shocking to me Vanna, who everyone seems to really like and you never hear anything bad about, never took a gig at another show, or became a talk show host, or anything. She and Pat have remained the 1-2 punch on Wheel for almost 4 decades. And at long last, she hosted the show for the first time in her long career, save for the time Pat lost his voice mid-show and she filled in for 1 round.
I wonder if there will ever be another television combo like Sajak and Trebek. I am 31 years old and don’t have memories where I could turn on the television at 7pm and not see one of the two. Bob Barker used to be the 3rd amigo, and Price is Right hasn’t been the same since he left, and that was 12 years ago. Still haven’t gotten over it. Does Jeopardy go on without Trebek? Does the Wheel keep spinning without Sajak and Vanna? I don’t want to find out. Just pump them with the Magic Johnson secret sauce and keep them on their podiums forever