Vanna White Bio, Age, Net Worth, Husband, Kids & Wiki

Vanna White (born on February 18, 1957) is a popular American TV personality and movie star. Her profound appearances as a hostess on one of the most successful game shows, Wheel of Fortune, since 1982, have brought her the major acclaim. She has been a letter turner for over 3 decades on the game show. Vanna has also been featured in several magazines such as San Diego, Playboy, Esquire, and People. She was born on February 18, 1957, to Miguel Angel and Joan Marie Rosich. Her first appearance on television came in 1980 as a participant in a game show The Price Is Right. Read in detail about Vanna White Bio, Age, Salary, Net Worth, Husband, Kids & Wiki.

Vanna’s career breakthrough came in 1982 when she became a hostess on the game show Wheel of Fortune. In addition to being a host, she has also done plenty of work as an actress, appearing in several television shows and movies so far. Coming towards her personal life, Vanna White remained married to restaurant owner George Santo Pietro from 1990 to 2002. While she has also dated actor John Gibson, businessman Michael Kaye, and John Donaldson.

Vanna White Biography – Wiki

Vanna White is the longtime co-host of the popular game show ‘Wheel of Fortune.’

Biodata/ Wiki

Vanna White, born on February 18, 1957, in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, worked as a professional model before joining the game show Wheel of Fortune in 1982 as co-host. She’s responsible for uncovering the letters on the show’s large puzzle board and modeling an ever-changing line of designs. White is the mother of two and, as an avid crocheter, has her own yarn line called Vanna’s Choice.

Vanna White Family, Education & More

Vanna White was born Vanna Marie Angel in Conway, South Carolina, to Miguel Angel and Joan Marie Rosich. Her maternal father disappeared from her life shortly after her birth, and Vanna used her mother’s maiden name as her own for a short time, until her mother married Herbert White, who raised her. Vanna adopted her stepfather’s last name in the process. The family moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Herbert White became a successful real estate broker/owner of White’s Realty.

As a young adult, Vanna moved west to pursue a career where her good looks and pleasant personality would be appreciated. She quickly befriended other aspiring actresses in Hollywood and met the love of her life: John Gibson. Four years after Vanna won her spot on Wheel of Fortune, she and John were engaged, and within months of the engagement, John was killed in a private plane crash.

Vanna White Hot Images

Vanna White Instagram

Vanna White shares a close bond with her family and often shares amazing pictures with them on her Instagram account. She has made her family proud by being one of the known actresses of the Hollywood industry. She is also active on social media and has accumulated nearly 45.7K followers on Instagram.

Vanna White Net Worth, House & Salary

Vanna White is an American television personality, model, and actress best known as the hostess and puzzle-board turner of Wheel of Fortune. Vanna White has a net worth of $95 million dollars as of 2023. Interestingly, that actually makes her slightly richer than her Wheel co-host Pat Sajak. Her additional net worth came from her previous marriage to a highly successful real estate developer/restaurateur named George Santo Pietro.

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In 1993, Vanna successfully sued the Samsung Electronics corporation over a commercial after the company aired a commercial that featured a smiling robot that turned letters on a game show. White asserted that the company was using her likeness without permission. Incredibly, Vanna ended up winning the lawsuit after several appeals and was awarded $403,000 in damages.

Vanna White Marriage, Husband, Boyfriend And Children/ Kids

White dated Playgirl centerfold/Chippendales-dancer-turned-actor John Gibson in 1980, and they eventually became engaged. In 1986, Gibson was killed in a plane crash. White married restaurant owner George Santo Pietro in December 1990. White first became pregnant in September 1992, and announced her pregnancy on an episode of Wheel of Fortune where “Vanna’s pregnant” was the answer to a puzzle. She miscarried shortly after the episode’s taping. White later had a son, Nicholas, born in 1994 and a daughter, Giovanna (Gigi), born in 1997, from her marriage to Santo Pietro. The couple divorced in November 2002. From 2004 to 2006, she was engaged to businessman Michael Kaye, senior partner in a large leveraged buyout fund based in southern California. The two never wed.

In a conversation with Larry King, she indicated that her mother had told her that her uncle was actor Christopher George. Also, in that same conversation, she said that her kids come to Wheel of Fortune taping a lot, especially her daughter Giovanna, who appeared more than anyone else who is an audience member in the show. According to White, although George was not a biological relation of hers, her mother grew up with his family and, years later in Los Angeles, he and his wife took her under their wing.

Vanna has dated-

• Garrion Davis (Rumor)
• Gordy Watson (1976-1979) – The millionaire classic car dealer, Gordy Watson and Vanna White began dating after they met in a nightclub called TJ’s in 1976. Eventually, the two got engaged and lived together for around 4 years. However, they amicably parted ways after Vanna got into Hollywood.
• John Gibson (1982-1986) – Actor John Gibson and Vanna dated for 4 years after they had met in 1982 and then got engaged eventually. However, only a few months after their engagement, John passed away on May 17, 1986, in an unfortunate plane crash in Los Angeles.
• Corbin Bernsen (1985) – Actor Corbin Bernsen is believed to have dated Vanna for a short while in 1985.
• Dana Strum (1988) (Rumor)
• Sylvester Stallone (1988) – Actor Sylvester Stallone and Vanna had a fling during the 80s. According to some sources, the two had been spotted together on more than one occasion.
• George Santo Pietro (1990-2002) – Vanna started dating restaurant owner, George Santo Pietro, in 1990, whom she met coincidentally while dining at Studio City, California, with Tracy Vaccaro, who was Pietro’s ex-girlfriend, and Robert Demeo. They got married the same year and later Vanna suffered a miscarriage. Then, she gave birth to a boy named Nicholas (b. 1994) and a girl named Giovanna (b. 1997). Their relationship, however, ended in November 2002.
• John Corbett (2001-2002) – It was claimed by certain sources that Vanna started dating actor John Corbett in 2001 and the duo dated until 2002. But, nothing was confirmed about these claims.
• Colby Donaldson (2002) – Actor Colby Donaldson and Vanna were believed to have dated for a short while.
• Stephen Samuels (2003) – Vanna and actor Stephen Samuels had a fling in 2003. The two had a major age difference and Vanna, being the older one in the relationship, didn’t want to start a family at that age. So, despite being in love, they broke up.
• Michael Kaye (2004-2006) – Businessman Michael Kaye and Vanna made public announcements about their engagement in 2004. But, they separated in 2006.
• John Donaldson – As per her Instagram posts, she is in a relationship with contractor John Donaldson.

Career

While reminiscing about her times as an actress, model, and American TV fixture, White has mentioned that one of the biggest things she regrets doing in her career was posing for a lingerie shoot in 1987. This shoot caused her to land on the controversial men’s magazine, Playboy. White has spoken about these racy photos in several interviews, claiming that they almost caused her to lose her job on the show. White sued both Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and the magazine itself, hoping that the shoot won’t leave a damaging impact on her wholesome image. Both sides eventually dropped the lawsuits.

Vanna White Hosting Wheel of Fortune

Later in 1982, however, White got the job that would make her career. She was chosen out of 200 applicants to join new host and former weatherman, Pat Sajak, on the NBC game show, Wheel of Fortune, created by entertainment giant Merv Griffin. The show met with tremendous success over the next several years, and by 1986 a syndicated evening version attracted 30 million viewers, twice as many as the No. 2 syndicated program, M*A*S*H, and grossed $100 million a year. In 1999, its 16th year in syndication, Wheel of Fortune was seen by approximately 40 million people.

White’s position as hostess and chief letter-turner and model of an ever-changing line of designs on Wheel of Fortune quickly made her a huge star. Suddenly, “Vannamania” was sweeping the nation, and White soon earned a number of lucrative endorsement contracts and even starred in the NBC movie Venus: The Goddess of Love. While more skeptical media observers mocked White for her limited acting ability and her position on Wheel as a non-speaking clotheshorse, the majority of viewers developed a liking to her, due in no small part to her beauty, energy, and constant charisma, and White became somewhat of an iconic figure in American pop culture. Her popularity peaked during the mid-to-late 1980s.

In 1992, White was recognized in The Guinness Book of World Records as TV’s most frequent clapper, with an average of 720 claps per show and over 28,000 per season. A ghostwritten autobiography of the game show star, entitled Vanna Speaks, was published in 1987. Of her longtime career on Wheel of Fortune, White has stated, “It’s not the most intellectual job in the world, but I do have to know the letters.” She also once joked, “When I was having that alphabet soup, I never thought that it would pay off.”

After more than three decades on air, White stepped into host Wheel of Fortune by herself when Sajak was hospitalized for emergency surgery in late 2019.

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Some Known Facts About Vanna White

• Vanna was very young when her biological father left her mother. Later, her mother married a former real estate broker, Herbert White, and Vanna was raised by her stepfather.
• In the past, she had been given the honor of carrying an Olympic Torch.
• She is well-known among her friends for possessing the skills to play billiards.
• She is afraid of spiders.
• Vanna and her co-host Pat Sajak have the same blood group i.e. AB positive.
• In 1982, Vanna’s prospectives modeling career and talent earned her the spot as the hostess on the show, Wheel of Fortune, against 200 applicants who were there for the auditions.
• In 1978, she competed at the Miss Georgia pageant.
• The surname “White” was taken by Vanna from her stepfather’s last name.
• White was one of the first 4 contestants to audition on the game show The Price is Right on June 20, 1980, but unfortunately, she didn’t make it past the contestant’s row.
• It is believed that the popular game, Super Mario, has a character named “Vanna T” which is named after her.
• She had lent her voice to animated television series The Real Story of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
• Vanna and Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, were friends until Hugh used one of her pictures, despite her constant pleading against doing so, on the cover of the Playboy magazine’s May 1987 edition. After that, she never returned to the mansion.
• She won a spot in the Guinness World Records as the “most frequent clapper” in 1992.
• In 2013, she made an appearance on the WWE Hall of Fame show alongside several celebrities including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Donald Trump, and John Travolta.
• In 1998, Vanna received $403,000 from Samsung electronics after she filed a lawsuit against them for having caused damage to her image through a print ad that showcased a robot spinning letters.
• In 1987, DJ David Kolin released a parody titled Vanna, Pick Me a Letter in sync with the song The Letter by the band, The Box Tops. Later, in 1988 comedy, singer “Weird Al” Yankovic also released an original song titled Stuck in a Closet with Vanna White.
• In 1987, she published an autobiography titled Vanna Speaks!
• In 2013, she has honored a place in the Guinness World Records for having clapped for an estimated 3,480,864 times in 30 seasons, which was a whopping 606 claps per episode during 5,744 episodes that she had appeared in.
• In 2006, she earned a spot at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• It is believed that until 2017, Vanna had worn more than 6500 dresses over the span of 35 years that she had spent on the show and has never worn the same dress twice.
• She frequently donates parts of her profit from her yarn line called Vanna’s Choice to the St. ­Jude Children’s Hospital.

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FAQ’s

How Much Is Vanna White Paid A Year?

Salary Highlights: Vanna White’s Salary Is $10 Million Per Year. For Comparison, Pat Sajak’s Salary Is $15 Million. That’s 48 Days Per Year Of Work To Earn $15 And $10 Million Per Year, Respectively.

Is Pat Sajak Married To Vanna White?

Absolutely Not! Pat Sajak Has Been Married To His Wife Lesley For Almost 30 Years. Vanna White Lived With Soap Opera Star John Gibson Up Until His Death In A Plane Crash In 1986. On New Year’s Eve Of 1990, She Married Restaurateur George Santo Pietro In Aspen, Colorado.

What Does Pat Sajak Make A Year?

Pat Sajak Earns An Annual Salary Of $15 Million As Host Of Wheel Of Fortune. For Comparison, Vanna White’s Salary Is $10 Million. Wheel Of Fortune Tapes Four Days Per Month, Six Shows Per Day.

What Does Vanna White Do?

Actor, Television Presenter, Film Producer, Tv Personality