Vanna White worried she could be dropped from ‘Wheel of Fortune’?

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In the wake of Pat Sajak’s announcement that he’s getting ready to walk away from Wheel of Fortune next year, a new report has surfaced claiming that his co-host Vanna White is worried she’ll be shuffled out if producers look to give the show a makeover.

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“The next year is going to be quite the ride and Vanna wants to be a part of it all even after he leaves, and she hopes they don’t force her out,” a source allegedly close to White told the Daily Mail on Tuesday.

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The insider went on to claim that despite Sajak’s decision to leave after its upcoming 41st season, White, 66, wants to keep turning letters on the popular game show, which she joined in 1982.

“Vanna doesn’t want to leave Wheel of Fortune even after Pat’s announcement of retirement, and she would highly consider taking over his role as host on the show,” the source maintained.

The Mail’s alleged source went on to claim that White wants “to be a part of the selection process for Pat’s replacement, because if it is up to her, she is in it forever.”

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White, who moved to Los Angeles in 1980 “$1,000 to my name,” is prepared for show producers to take their time looking for Sajak’s permanent replacement when he walks away at the end of the 2023-24 season.

“Vanna knows that they are going to do the same thing they did with Alex Trebek and his replacement [on Jeopardy!] and make a huge to-do about it all,” they said . But they cautioned: “A year from now, if Vanna is gone from Wheel, it wasn’t her decision.”

After Sajak, 76, announced his time on the show is coming to an end, Ryan Seacrest emerged as a front-runner to step in as his replacement.

Meanwhile, White paid tribute to her longtime screen partner in a heartfelt social media post.

“When we started @WheelofFortune who could have imagined we’d still be at it 41 seasons later?” White wrote on Twitter, adding “I couldn’t be happier to have shared the stage with you for all these years with one more to come. Cheers to you, @patsajak!”

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Sajak shocked fans this week when he revealed that he’ll be walking away from the show. “Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it’ll keep the clickbait sites busy!).”

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Sajak took over from Chuck Woolery as host of Wheel of Fortune in December 1981. In 2019, the Guinness World Records honoured him for having the longest career as a game-show host for the same program.

“Please do not adjust your sets at home. Chuck Woolery has not shrunk,” Sajak said in his first episode [per the Washington Post]. “I’ve been fortunate enough to wander onto the set of a very successful program.”

White joined the program in 1982 after original letter turner Susan Stafford left the show, but Sajak wasn’t originally sold on her as his co-host as she competed against two other finalists.

“Vanna knows this,” Sajak told CBS News in 2020. “Not that she wasn’t lovely and wonderful and personable and all that. But she was the most nervous, by far, of any of them.”

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But the show’s creator Merv Griffin stood by White — and Sajak — and it wasn’t long before she became a household name.

White hosted Wheel for three weeks back in 2019 after Sajak was forced to undergo emergency surgery for a blocked intestine. In an interview with the New York Times, White said she was surprised she was asked to take over.

“I’ve never even thought of that in 37 years,” White said. “To be asked almost on the spot, ‘How do you feel about hosting the show?’ Like, what?! I was very nervous.”

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White’s hosting stint went off with almost no glitches except for one small gaffe during her debut when she mistook the arrow landing on $500 for a bankrupt spot.

“Oh no! I’m looking at the wrong arrow,” she joked. “How do you do this show?”

But when she was asked in 2020 if she would want to host again, White was unsure.

“It’s not at the top of my list,” she told CBS News’ Mo Rocca. “I loved being there, I loved doing it. But I was so nervous. Maybe if I did it a few more times, I would feel better about it. But I’m my worst critic.”

Rocca wondered if she was worried that a robot could one day take her job.

“No, I’m not,” White replied. “Should I be?”

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Twitter: @markhdaniell

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