- Vanna White opened up about whether or not she’s nonetheless mates with Pat Sajak after his retirement from Wheel of Fortune in June
- “We’re mates,” White stated of her present standing with Sajak
- White and the previous host will reunite for the fifth season of Movie star Wheel of Fortune, which they are going to co-host collectively
It’s been practically a 12 months since Pat Sajak stated goodbye to Wheel of Fortune, and Vanna White is opening up about what their off-screen relationship appears like now.
Although Sajak, 78, made his emotional exit from the every day recreation present in June 2024, White, 68, just lately advised TV Insider that her former co-host and longtime good friend is “nonetheless in my life.”
“I nonetheless see him! We’re mates,” White stated within the interview, revealed on April 24, including that the previous Wheel of Fortune co-hosts “have dinner” collectively typically.
“Yeah,” she assured followers, “he’s nonetheless in my life.”
And when Sajak, who hosted the present for 41 years from 1981 to 2024, reunites with White, who stepped into her now iconic position in 1982, it feels the identical because it all the time has, she advised TV Insider.
“It’s like slipping into one thing very comfy,” she stated. “I imply that in the very best approach. It’s simply comfy.”
However when Sajak first left, White recalled, it wasn’t consolation, however slightly melancholy, that she skilled.
“It was unhappy for me in a approach as a result of [at the time] I didn’t know what the long run held,” she recalled to TV Insider, including, “It was ending an unbelievable period!”
As for her present co-host Ryan Seacrest — who took over Sajak’s co-hosting duties following his retirement, making his official Wheel of Fortune debut in September 2024 — White thinks he took the suitable strategy, and it has since paid off.
“Ryan did his homework. He rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed,” she advised TV Insider. “He additionally stated to me, ‘I’m not changing Pat Sajak as a result of nobody might – ever. I’m simply stepping in.’ That made me really feel good as a result of, as Ryan stated, he’s simply stepping in – he’s not making an attempt to show something.”
However, for these lacking White and Sajak’s dynamic — constructed over 4 a long time of co-hosting facet by facet — the duo will as soon as once more be reunited on Movie star Wheel of Fortune, which Sajak has continued internet hosting regardless of his retirement from the unique recreation present, TV Insider studies.
Season 5 of Movie star Wheel of Fortune premieres on April 30.
Final 12 months, after his first couple of weeks behind the wheel, Seacrest, 50, opened as much as ipromiseyoumedia about how White helped make his transition to co-host as seamless as doable.
“She stated, ‘Simply go on the market and have enjoyable and be your self,’ ” the star advised ipromiseyoumedia in September.
By no means miss a narrative — join ipromiseyoumedia’s free every day group to remain up-to-date on the very best of what ipromiseyoumedia has to supply, from movie star information to forcing human curiosity tales.
“The advantage of this recreation present is that you just get to be your self,” he added on the time. “It has slightly looseness to it. It does not must be so strict and so formatted. It has these moments of actual life and humanity.”
Seacrest stated that he and White have lengthy had an off-screen repertoire, having “identified one another for 20 years.” The duo-turned-Wheel of Fortune co-hosts are “mates,” he advised ipromiseyoumedia, “which has made it actually, very nice and comfy.”
Wheel of Fortune airs Mondays at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
