Vanna White is known for her role on “Wheel of Fortune.” She carries the responsibility of turning over the letters as contestants guess them. She also takes place in fun banter with the show’s host, Pat Sajak.
The two have been working together on the game show for about 38 years.
While she is a key part of the show’s function and history, White also played a role in an even more essential world tradition.
Vanna White and the Olympics
According to Biography.com, Vanna White had the honor of carrying the torch during the 1996 Olympic Games. At the time, “Wheel of Fortune” was a sponsor for the games.
Both she and Sajak got to carry the Olympic torches during different relays. The 1996 Summer Olympics were held at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Wheel of Fortune” was an official game show of the Summer Olympics.
According to an AP News article from 1996, the show taped in Atlanta instead for a whole month. The set was decorated with different Olympic images and prizes were related to the other sponsors involved. This is the first time that official sponsorship rights were signed to television game shows. “Jeopardy!” was also included in this honor.
Many considered it another way in which the Olympic Games have become a money-making haven.
White’s Impact
Since her breakthrough on “Wheel of Fortune,” Vanna White has gotten plenty of fame and attention. The Guinness Book of Records has her in for the most frequent clapper. Someone must have counted her claps and found that she had well over 3.9 million.
ABC News reported, if you look up her name in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, she’s even a verb. Her name means to present. It is a nod to her impeccable talent for presenting letters one-by-one. Nelly even rapped about her in his song “Ride Wit Me” and she has appeared in countless magazines over the years.
White and ‘Wheel of Fortune’
With over 38 years on the show, White surely has a lot of key moments from her time on “Wheel of Fortune.”
She has said in the past that she has gotten to wear over 6,700 gowns on the show. White doesn’t get to keep the dresses usually. Instead, according to Mental Floss, the show borrows them from designers and then returns them once the show is finished taping.
Given her decades on the show, that number of dresses actually seems pretty low. The reason for that is she actually only has to work four days every month. Sajak and White tape six shows a day.
