Wheel of Fortune tile-turner Vanna White poked some fun at her co-host, Pat Sajak.
Pat has been hosting Wheel of Fortune alongside his co-host, Vanna, for over four decades, but Vanna says she is the harder worker.
Several years ago, Vanna filled Pat’s shoes when the longtime game show host underwent emergency surgery for a painful bowel blockage.
During her three-week fill-in, Vanna went outside of her comfort zone and impressed Wheel of Fortune viewers as she temporarily took over the hosting gig.
Shortly after Vanna took over Pat’s position, she did an interview with Esquire and joked about working harder than her long-standing co-host and friend.
“My position is much more, what’s the word? I work a lot harder. I’ve walked thousands of miles,” Vanna told the publication in 2019. “And he didn’t have to do that. In my heels, no less.”
Vanna White isn’t ‘looking to take’ Pat Sajak’s hosting gig on Wheel of Fortune
Despite her lighthearted comments, Vanna made it clear that she wasn’t looking to take over Pat’s hosting position long-term.
Vanna admitted, “I like my puzzle board. I want to stay at my puzzle board. And there’s no competition either. It’s Pat’s job, and I’m filling in for him. I’m not looking to take his position.”
In fact, Vanna also confessed that she and Pat’s camaraderie is an important component of the show.
When her interviewer admitted that it would be hard to imagine Wheel of Fortune without her and Pat together, Vanna said, “That makes two of us. I feel the same way. We are a team.”
In addition, Vanna set the record straight about feeling as though she’s Pat’s equal.
“I don’t feel like my job at the board is any lower than Pat’s job at the wheel,” Vanna shared, adding, “I just think of it as I’m just part of the show. I’m not any better than anybody else.”
What is Vanna’s future with the Wheel of Fortune franchise?
Vanna’s interview was four years ago, so has she changed her mind now that Pat is leaving Wheel of Fortune to retire?
As Monsters and Critics reported, Pat’s replacement is another A-list TV host, Ryan Seacrest. Reportedly, Vanna wasn’t pleased about the news of Ryan taking over the reins.
A source claimed that Vanna felt “disrespected” by the executives at Wheel of Fortune for not giving her “more of a chance to take over Pat’s job or that she wasn’t able to give her two cents on the replacement.”
In addition to her dismay over Pat’s replacement, Vanna also hired a lawyer to negotiate a pay raise — in fact, it’s been rumored that Vanna is looking for at least half of Pat’s astounding $15 million salary.
While Vanna has co-hosted Wheel of Fortune for 41 years compared to Pat’s 42 years on weeknight television, she only makes a fraction of his salary, raking in $3 million annually.
And according to TMZ sources, things are going to “get ugly” if Sony Pictures Television doesn’t pay up.
Wheel of Fortune airs weeknights on ABC.
I never liked Vanna. And I definitely don’t like Ryan, if you are speaking about Ryan Seacrest. There are other people out there, find someone new.