After Decades on ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ Cohost Vanna White Still Loves Word Games

I saw on social media that you and your dad enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles together. [White’s father, Herbert White Jr., died in April  2022 at age 96.] Are you still doing them?

Absolutely. I always have one on my coffee table at home and just do it here and there. And not only jigsaw puzzles, I play Words with Friends every day. I do Wordle. I do crossword puzzles. Letters are my life. What can I say? I love it. I like board games. I grew up playing games. It’s just part of who I am.

Who is in your Words with Friends group? Anyone we know?

I do it with several friends. Pat Sajak is one of them, and he kicks my butt all the time!

Which board games do you like?

Remember Parcheesi? Life? Monopoly, of course; Apples to Apples.

Did you play them with your kids [Nicholas “Nikko,” 31; Giovanna “Gigi,” 28, with ex-husband George Santo Pietro] when they were growing up?

Oh, definitely. We still have game nights occasionally.

White gets back to work on “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” with cohost Ryan Seacrest on Sept. 26.

CBS

You also crochet. I remember you made a blanket for Ryan and gifted it to him on camera. What’s the last thing you made?

A baby blanket. I make those all the time. I absolutely love doing it. My grandmother taught me when I was little. So I’ve been doing it my whole life. I also have my own brand of yarn called Vanna’s Choice Lion Brand Yarn. I donate half my proceeds to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. So that makes me feel really good.

Were there game shows that you watched on TV when you were growing up?

Concentration was one of them, and I actually went to New York and went to a taping. It was cool. I was like 12 years old.

Who gave you the best advice, and what was it?

Growing up in a small town in South Carolina, my mother and dad were so supportive. And my mother always said, “Follow your dream. Do not give up.” And that has been what I’ve done.

White holds the Guinness World Record for being “most frequent clapper.”

ABC/Getty Images

How do you stay in shape?

I exercise, of course. I spin and I do weights. But keeping in shape not only [helps] physically, but it also helps you mentally. When you’ve put on a good sweat after spinning on a bike, it just kind of clears your head and gets anxiety out.

What’s the best part about getting older?

All the wisdom that you have as you get older, there are things that you look at; you’re going, “Gosh, I would have done it differently looking back.” Or looking ahead, you kind of know what to expect at this point, because you’ve probably experienced almost everything in life. So good lessons have been taught over the years, or we’ve learned, I should say. That’s probably the best thing — the wisdom.

What’s the worst thing about getting older?

Having to wear reading glasses!

What does retirement look like to Vanna White?

Golf. Playing golf. And probably traveling a little bit as well. But just relaxing and enjoying a simple life, really.