In a new interview for Closer, longtime Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White revealed some fun facts about herself, including which celebrities over the years have left her feeling starstruck — and the answers are a little surprising!
“I was starstruck by Stevie Wonder,” said the 68-year-old TV personality. I was sitting in the makeup chair, and he walked into the room. And I just was like, ‘Wow, it’s Stevie Wonder.'”
OK, that one doesn’t seem weird. But her next two answers are kind of random.
“Another one was Mr. Rogers — he was the sweetest, sweetest man. And one more. It was Mickey Mantle,” said White.
Who knew she was such a baseball fan?
White also revealed where she got her unusual first name from — it was her grandmother’s next-door neighbor. But White said she has always loved how unique her name is.
“My grandmother’s next-door neighbor was named Vanna. My mother named me after her,” said White. “Growing up, people pronounced my name wrong all the time. Vanya, Vana? No, it’s Vanna. The most important thing for me was having an unusual name.”
White has been on Wheel of Fortune for a jaw-dropping 43 years, which means she was just 25 when it debuted. But she told Closer she wanted to be on TV since she was in third grade, because her uncle, Christopher George, was on TV.
“When I was in the third grade, I had my appendix taken out, and I was at home watching this show called The Rat Patrol. My mother was in the kitchen cooking. She turned around and said, ‘That’s your uncle on TV.’ I said, ‘What? I have an uncle on TV? I want to be on TV!’ So, it started in the third grade. It worked out.”
In case you’re curious, The Rat Patrol was an ABC drama about a World War II Allied commando patrol squad in North Africa that aired for two seasons in the late 1960s. George starred as Sgt. Sam Troy; one of his co-stars was future The Young and the Restless star Eric Braeden as Capt. Hans Dietrich.
Wheel of Fortune airs on weeknights in syndication, while Celebrity Wheel of Fortune airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
