With Ryan Seacrest taking over Pat Sajak’s hosting duties on Wheel of Fortune, Vanna White is reportedly feeling slighted.
As previously reported by Monsters and Critics, Ryan will become the new host of Wheel of Fortune, effective next year, once Pat finishes out his last season on the long-running show.
There were rumors of several other TV personalities who may have snagged Pat’s coveted hosting gig, including The View’s Whoopi Goldberg and Good Morning America’s Ginger Zee.
However, Ryan beat out his competition and will be asking contestants to spin the wheel in 2024.
Amid the news, a source says that Vanna feels “disappointed” about the decision, especially because Pat’s replacement was chosen just two weeks after he announced his departure from the game show.
Per The Daily Mail, the insider says that Vanna felt as though the producers at Wheel of Fortune showed a “lack of respect for her” with their decision by not considering her for the position.
Vanna White ‘disappointed’ she wasn’t considered to replace Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune
“She was disappointed that they didn’t give her more of a chance to take over Pat’s job or that she wasn’t able to give her two cents on the replacement,” the insider said in a statement to The Daily Mail.
Vanna’s remarks have nothing to do with disrespecting Ryan, the source tells the outlet, but rather the “disrespect” she feels the bosses at Wheel of Fortune feel towards her.
Reportedly the blonde beauty, 66, isn’t quite ready to retire yet and doesn’t want her tenure on the show to end on someone else’s terms.
“That is the last thing on her list to happen,” said the source. “She wants to stay, but she also wants it to be fair and is going to fight for what she believes in and what she deserves.”
Vanna has a long history of game show appearances under her belt
Vanna has appeared as a hostess on Wheel of Fortune since 1982, replacing Susan Stafford and becoming a regular in December of that year, appearing in more than 7,500 episodes since.
The sidekick to Pat Sajak even received a Guinness Book of World Records certificate as the most frequent clapper in 2013.
Before her stint on Wheel of Fortune, Vanna was an aspiring model and appeared on another popular game show, The Price is Right, as a contestant in 1980.
Wheel of Fortune airs weeknights on ABC.