Even if you don’t tune into Wheel of Fortune every night, there’s no denying that Vanna White is a household name.
After all, the beloved TV personality, 68, has been starring on the game show program since 1982. While White may appear glamorous on screen, she prefers a much different approach in real life.
“I’m a very natural person with no makeup, flip-flops, and hair in a ponytail,” White told Closer Weekly in an interview published on Friday, May 9.
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When White does decide to use makeup, she’ll apply a small amount of bronzer. “Just to give me a little color because I don’t really go in the sun,” she revealed.
No matter what she’s wearing, White’s confidence runs deep. “My parents said, ‘Always be yourself. Don’t ever change.’ So, I think that that grounded me,” the mother of two, who shares kids Gigi and Nikki with ex-husband George Santo Pietro, explained.
White is also grateful to her parents for giving her a special moniker. “My grandmother’s next-door neighbor was named Vanna. My mother named me after her,” she recalled. “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.”
As for her tenure on Wheel of Fortune, White is enjoying her relationship with co-star Ryan Seacrest.
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Seacrest, 50, replaced Pat Sajak after his departure from the show. “He’s another southern boy. I’m a southern girl,” Vanna gushed. “So, we have a lot in common. We both like chicken and dumplings. That was one of our first meals together.”
Though Sajak, 78, leaving was a transition, White maintains that Seacrest is a good man for the job. “Ryan has made it easy, and he always said, ‘I am not replacing Pat Sajak. I’m just stepping in,’” she detailed.
