She’s been in training for this for nearly 37 years and now it’s finally her turn.
Vanna White made the move from clapper and toucher-of-lit-screens to full-fledged host on this Friday’s taping of Wheel of Fortune. While fans, many of whom perhaps still ask ponder the eternal question “What Will Vanna Wear Tonight?”, are doubtlessly thrilled the most famous co-host in televised game shows is getting her shot in the spotlight, it is not under the best of circumstances. Pat Sajak, Wheel of Fortune’s longtime spinmeister, went in for emergency surgery for a blocked intestine on Thursday. The man from whom contestants have purchased vowels for over 7000 episodes, making him the Guinness World Record holder for most prolific game show host on a single show (even over Bob Barker!), is recovering comfortably, according to a Wheel of Fortune tweet.
I know what you must be asking. How in the heck in Vanna going to vamp with the contestants, monitor the wheel and erupt into an “ohhhhhh!” when someone lands on “bankrupt” if she then has to race over to the board to make the letters appear? Well, this is something for the brainiacs over at Califon Productions, Inc. to figure out in addition to thinking up phrases that don’t lean on the letters R S T L N and E too much.
For Friday’s taping Vanna got an assist from Mickey and Minnie Mouse. It is unclear if Minnie, should she return, will wear the same outfit. Vanna, as most know, is famous for never repeating a gown in the near-7000 times she’s appeared. (Again, we ask, “What Will Vanna Wear Tonight?”).
A spin through Wheel lore has uncovered a precedent. At some point prior to 1997, when the letterboard went digital, Pat Sajak had a touch of laryngitis and, for the bonus round, asked Vanna to switch positions. You can witness this monumental occasion in the video below at the 2:25 mark.
Sajak, who struggled through a late night transition in 1989 and 1990, and in 2012 confessed that he used to show up at tapings drunk, has since eased into a cranky uncle persona with the advent of Twitter. America wishes him a S_EED_ RE___ERY.