Vanna White Tries on 40 Dresses a Day for Wheel of Fortune

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Vanna White‘s work schedule will make your head spin.

The 68-year-old spends almost two hours getting ready for each show—Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune—which she co-hosts with Ryan Seacrest, often just deciding what to wear.

The popular letter-turner gave TopMob News a behind-the-scenes look at her day, explaining that she arrives at the set around seven in the morning. She then spends time trying on between 30 and 40 dresses to find the perfect outfit for the show, before starting hair and makeup around 8:30.

After glam, Vanna said she typically “do a few interviews” before her first taping.

“We start our first show at 11:30,” she noted, “and then we do many, many shows.”

Vanna Ryan, who became the host of Wheel of Fortune in 2024 after Pat Sajak, often films multiple episodes on the same day. This allows her to have a very long break – 331 days off each year!

Vanna White shared on the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show in March that she only films for about 34 days each year. She said, “That’s it.”

Honestly, she had six completely different outfits throughout the event – and that’s not even mentioning all the dresses she tested out beforehand! It was a truly stunning display of fashion.

To make filming easier for Vanna, the show’s producers simplified the taping process over time. One change was updating her puzzle board to use touch-sensitive letters instead of manually flipping them.

Vanna described how she used to physically turn the letters on the Wheel of Fortune board. She then moved to simply touching them. Recently, though, the board was updated so she doesn’t even need to touch the letters anymore.

So, how does the new puzzle board work?

Oh my gosh, you guys, Pat Sajak told us! He’s been hosting Wheel of Fortune forever – since 1982! – and he let slip that there’s a laser! Apparently, when his hand gets close to a letter, it actually lights up! Can you believe it? It’s like magic, and he’s been doing it for decades! I’m completely obsessed with this detail now!

Vanna described how she used to physically turn the letters on the Wheel of Fortune board. Later, she moved to simply touching them. More recently, the set was redesigned so she doesn’t even need to touch the letters anymore.

So, how does the new puzzle board work?

The host of Wheel of Fortune, who has been with the show since 1982, explained that there’s a laser involved. When her hand gets close to a letter, it will illuminate.

And for Vanna, all that time under on set is worth it.

She told Parade in 2024 that the show offers a welcome break and is just a lot of fun for families. She added that she enjoys being part of such a positive program.

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune airs every Friday on ABC.

 For more behind-the-scenes secrets about the show, keep reading…

Wheel of Fortune was created by Merv Griffin and first aired on NBC in 1975 as a daytime game show, inspired by the game Hangman. Pat Sajak became the host in 1981, and Vanna White joined him as co-host the following year. The show moved into syndication in 1983, and a spin-off called Celebrity Wheel of Fortune premiered on ABC in 2021.

Pat Sajak began his broadcasting career in Chicago and served in the U.S. Army in 1968, working with Armed Forces Radio in Saigon during the Vietnam War. After his service, he worked at various radio and TV stations as an announcer, talk show host, and weatherman. He was working as a weatherman in Los Angeles when Merv Griffin offered him the opportunity to host Wheel of Fortune.

In a June 2024 interview with his daughter, Maggie Sajak, Pat recalled his initial reaction: “Honestly, my first thought was, ‘There’s nothing for me to do!’ Saying ‘Yes, there are three R’s’ doesn’t exactly seem like a career boost… and boy, was I wrong.”

Let me tell you a bit about the wonderful people who make Wheel of Fortune so special! Vanna White actually grew up in South Carolina and had a real creative side – she studied fashion design in Atlanta before moving to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting. It was in L.A. that she was discovered and auditioned for the show. She even confessed to being incredibly nervous – can you believe over 200 women tried out, and she was the very last one! Fun fact: the first letter Vanna ever touched on the puzzle board was a ‘T’!

And speaking of iconic voices, Jim Thornton joined the Wheel of Fortune family as the announcer in 2011. But before that, he had a fantastic career doing voice work for some really popular projects – you might recognize his voice from movies like Monsters, Inc., TV shows like Rugrats, and even Celebrity Deathmatch! It’s amazing to see how everyone’s paths led them to create this beloved game show.

Pat and Vanna hosted over 8,000 episodes of Wheel of Fortune during its 41 seasons before Pat’s retirement in June 2024. Pat even earned a Guinness World Record in 2019 for having the longest career as a game show host on the program. Vanna also holds a record – in 2013, Guinness World Records recognized her as the “most frequent clapper,” estimating she clapped over 3.4 million times in 30 seasons. Considering her rare absences, this averages to about 606 claps per show.

With over 20 million weekly viewers (according to a 2023 announcement), Wheel of Fortune is a hugely popular game show. Over its 41 seasons, the show has given away almost 600 cars and nearly 5,000 vacations. As of 2024, Wheel of Fortune has awarded contestants more than $324 million in cash and prizes.

Vanna White has walked the equivalent of two marathons (around 52 miles!) while assisting with the puzzle board over the years, according to the show’s calculations. She’s also worn over 7,000 dresses, but doesn’t get to keep any of them. Remarkably, for almost four decades, she never wore the same dress twice. In a 2020 social media video, she jokingly pointed out that she finally repeated an outfit – a blue dress – and declared it a sign of the times.

The iconic wheel is, of course, central to Wheel of Fortune, and it’s quite massive, weighing in at 2,400 pounds! It’s also uniquely designed for travel – the show disassembles and rebuilds it at each location, bringing over a million pounds of equipment with them. And don’t forget the Bonus Wheel, which holds more than 24 prize envelopes.

If you’re ever confused about how Wheel of Fortune is filmed, Vanna White can explain it. She revealed in 2015 that they film six shows in just four days.

In 2022, the show updated its puzzle board to a single, large screen. Vanna explained in a YouTube video that she doesn’t even need to touch the new board – she simply holds her hand near it.

Interestingly, despite changing prices over the years, the cost to buy a vowel has remained constant at $250 for the past forty years.

Have you ever wondered how Pat Sajak instantly knows how many letters are in a puzzle after a contestant guesses? He shared that the show’s team listens to make sure the correct letter is called, then displays the correct number of letters on a screen only Pat can see.

Contestants on Wheel of Fortune have a helpful tool viewers don’t see: a letter board that lights up when a consonant or vowel is called, helping them avoid repeating letters. Pat Sajak explained that while players sometimes slip up and call the same letter twice, he understands the pressure they’re under.

Pat is also the creator of the popular Toss-Up puzzles. He came up with them to add more content to the show without extending the runtime. The show’s producer later added the Triple Toss-Up, and Pat suggested awarding $10,000 for solving all three.

A 2015 analysis by The Washington Post examined over 1,500 bonus puzzles from 2007 to 2015. It found that the letters H, G, P, and O were most common (after accounting for the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E already provided to contestants). Surprisingly, players tended to choose C, D, M, and A more often, even though those letters appeared less frequently in the puzzles.

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2025-10-25 00:47