Vanna White to play ‘Wheel of Fortune’ with ‘Jeopardy!’ hosts. Maggie Sajak fills in
“Wheel of Fortune” co-host Vanna White, a 40-year fixture of the long-running game show, will be among the contestants on Wednesday’s episode. And Pat Sajak’s daughter will be filling in for her at the illuminated letter board.
White, 66, will be giving the wheel a spin along with “Jeopardy!” co-hosts Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik, all of whom are competing in the forthcoming pretaped episode of “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune: Ultimate Host Night.”
White, Jennings and Bialik are going head to head for charity, supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Equal Justice Initiative and Mental Wealth Alliance, respectively, ABC announced last month. As usual, Pat Sajak, 73, will host the episode, while his daughter, Maggie Sajak, 28, takes on White’s iconic role revealing the letters.
Vanna White hosted “Wheel of Fortune” for the first time Monday, beginning a three-week stint filling in for Pat Sajak as he recovers from surgery.
Maggie Sajak, the show’s social correspondent, shared a “warm up” Monday on Instagram Stories that featured her walking alongside the show’s letter board. She also shared a trailer for the episode in which she said, “I hope to make Vanna proud.”
“I think I’m gonna cry,” her father interjected in the clip.
“Wheel of Fortune” debuted in 1975 with Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford leading the show. Legendary producer Merv Griffin hired Sajak and White in 1982, and the two have co-hosted since. In 2021, the duo renewed their contracts through the 2023-24 TV season.
For the record:
1:55 p.m. May 9, 2023A previous version of this story said that Wednesday’s episode would be Vanna White’s first time competing on “Wheel of Fortune.” She competed in a 1997 episode.
White has competed on the show before — famously in a 1997 April Fools’ Day episode hosted by late “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek. Footage from that episode went viral last month, as it featured Sajak and White behind the titular wheel to raise money for charity.
White has also taken on Sajak’s role a few times. She hosted when Sajak was out with laryngitis in 1996 and again in 2019 as Sajak recovered from emergency surgery to correct a blocked intestine. Maggie Sajak filled in for White during that time too.
During her remarkable tenure, White has worn more than 7,000 gowns (without any repeats) and has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most frequent clapper in history (averaging 600 claps per episode), according to Glamour.
Maggie Sajak made her “Wheel” debut as a 1-year-old when she joined her dad onstage. The Princeton and Columbia University grad has served as the show’s social correspondent since 2021.
“The Wheel of Fortune staff and crew have always been like an extended family,” Maggie said in a statement on the show’s website. “And I’m thrilled to be working with them. It’s a real privilege to be able to treat the show’s longtime viewers to a look at what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Plus, I get to use the carpool lane with my father!”
Pat Sajak apologized on air to a contestant during an episode of ‘Wheel of Fortune’ after mocking her phobia of fish.
In another preview clip for Wednesday’s episode, White and Maggie Sajak exchange pleasantries during the show’s intro, prompting her father to quip that his co-host and daughter “truly can’t stand each other.”
Sajak’s awkward dad jokes have raised eyebrows more frequently lately. Just last week, the stalwart host fully committed to an odd voyeurism quip while bantering with White during the show, and last year he landed in hot water for asking her if she liked watching opera in the buff.
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