Wheel of Fortune is the longest-running syndicated game show in the United States. If you’re a frequent watcher, you may feel you know hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White quite well.
When fans think of a show, they often think of the face of the show. “Wheel of Fortune” is no different and many think of “the most frequent clapper” Vanna White when they remember the show.
More than thirty-two years after landing her job on the show, Vanna is still excited to be on the show. The stunning Vanna says “it is a happy show. Everybody goes home a winner.”
Needless to say, Vanna plays an important role for fans.
Just weeks after Vanna turned 60 years old, the Wheel of Fortune host is getting candid about her past appearance in a Playboy issue.
When Vanna was young, she was new to Hollywood and had to pay her rent somehow. In a candid new interview with Fox News, she revealed she regrets how she collected that money: with a racy photoshoot in one of the biggest men’s entertainment magazines.
Vanna around the same time as her photoshoot.
“Here’s the thing. When I first moved to Hollywood, I was too embarrassed to ask my dad for rent money. I was young and I wanted to do it on my own,” she told the news outlet. “So, I did these lingerie shots and from the moment I said I would do them, I thought, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m not going to ask my dad for money, so I’m just going to do it!’”
“Once I got Wheel of Fortune and some fame, Hugh Hefner then bought those pictures. He’s the one who put me on the cover of the magazine. I didn’t do it for Playboy,” Vanna shared.
However, she wasn’t happy with his choice to display her subjective photos to the rest of the world. “I did not want them on there, but it happened. I was very thankful that I had such support behind me,” Vanna admitted. “I remember going on Johnny Carson and saying, ‘I’m so sorry, this is what happened.’”
The blonde beauty concluded,
“And this is a lesson that applies today: Never do anything that you don’t want to do. Listen to your instincts and follow it. I said, ‘I made a mistake, I’m sorry and I just hope I don’t lose my job over it.’ Fortunately, I didn’t. I could have, you know? It was a great lesson to learn, but what can I say? I did something I shouldn’t have done.”
According to AWM, Vanna even sued Playboy for $5.2 million for destroying her “family audience” reputation. And fortunately, Wheel kept Vanna.