The Real Reason Vanna White Will Be Absent From ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Amid Salary Negotiations
usmagazine.comVanna White will reportedly be missing from some upcoming episodes of Wheel of Fortune — but her ongoing contract negotiations aren’t to blame.White, 66, reportedly contracted COVID in late July while the game show was shooting its annual “Teachers Week” block of episodes, which air in October, Puck News reported in an article published on Friday, August 11.White was temporarily replaced as the letter turner for several shows set to air this fall. Bridgette Donald-Blue, an L.A.
elementary school teacher who was named 2023 California Teacher of the Year, was asked to take over White’s role for the week, according to Puck News.Remarkably, this will mark only the fourth time — and first time in more than three decades — White has missed tapings of the show in her 41 years of letter turning.
White was replaced by Susan Stafford in 1986 after White’s boyfriend, John Gibson, died in a plane crash. Tricia Gist stepped up to the board in 1991 when White went on a two-week honeymoon with now ex-husband George Santo Pietro.
And Gist once again filled in for White later that year when Whiteshe was sick. (White and Pietro split in 2002.)White’s absence on the upcoming season 41 episodes is even more noteworthy because it comes soon after it was reported that the TV personality is negotiating for a higher salary once longtime host Pat Sajak, 76, leaves the show at the end of the season.
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