In the world of celebrity-dom, Vanna White exists on a unique pedestal, with extremely few others in entertainment on the same level. A fixture on the 2025 TV schedule, she’s been a game show icon for more than 40 years, she prefaced that run with a Troma movie, and was recognized in 2013 as a Guinness World Record holder for having clapped around 3.4 million times during the first 30 seasons. Vanna’s a living legend, but even she gets starstruck from time to time.
Having appeared on roughly 8,000 Wheel of Fortune episodes at this point, with some of those being the Celebrity spinoff (where Pat Sajak is still host for now), White is obviously no stranger to meeting and chatting up famous folks from all walks of life, so it perhaps makes sense that the superstars who left her most agog also boasted a variety of talents. Speaking with Closer Weekly, she shared this when addressing her favorite celeb encounters:
I was starstruck by Stevie Wonder. I was sitting in the makeup chair, and he walked into the room. And I just was like, ‘Wow, it’s Stevie Wonder.'
It's unclear where this excellent brush with greatness (for the both of them) would have taken place, as I don't believe Stevie Wonder was ever a proper contestant on Wheel of Fortune, and as far as I know, she's never sang on a duet with him. (She does have a Christmas album, however, which Ryan Seacrest used in a cute prank over the holidays.)
Vanna White shared another pair of celebs that left her awestruck, and both speak to her aw-shucks nature. As she put it:
And another one was Mr. Rogers — he was the sweetest, sweetest man. And one more. It was Mickey Mantle.
One wouldn't even need to care about baseball in the slightest to know the importance of meeting Hall-of-Famer Mickey Mantle, one of the most celebrated athletes of all time.
Just as inspirational, albeit in other ways, is Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood fame, who remains a beacon of understanding and politeness even years after his death.
Having witnessed so many thousands of contestants come and go via the Wheel of Fortune stage, Vanna White is aware of just how nervous many people get in regards to appearing on TV, and she revealed that she regularly offers up mini-pep talks to incoming players as she gets to work. And that sounds exactly like the kind of thing someone starstruck by Mr. Rogers would do.
To have Vanna share the advice with me to “buy vowels,” I would lose my d_amn_d mind. Below, fans can see Pat and Vanna reminiscing about having Mr. Rogers on the show when it taped in his hometown of Pittsburgh.
One can only guess how many people have been starstruck by seeing Vanna White in person during a Wheel of Fortune taping, knowing that whatever gorgeous dress she’s wearing won’t ever be duplicated in another episode, even if she does wear the same shoes on occasion.
Wheel of Fortune airs weeknights in syndication.
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