This week’s episode of Saturday Night Live poked fun at Vanna White and her stint hosting Wheel of Fortune that started this week. White hosted the show by herself for the first time in her decades-long tenure there, and not everything went as planned. Michael Che mocked her performance on this week’s “Weekend Update” segment.
White took over hosting duties on Wheel of Fortune starting on Monday night, while regular host Pat Sajak was out on a medical hiatus. White has been turning the letters on the show since 1982, yet the 62-year-old said she was out of her “comfort zone” taking over for Sajak.
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“For the first time in the history of Wheel of Fortune, the game show was hosted by Vanna White!” Che said brightly on SNL this weekend. Dropping into a more ominous tone of voice, he added: “There were no survivors.”
The bit came complete with a over-the-shoulder graphics, first showing White smiling alongside the show’s logo. It then cut to a photoshopped picture of the game show’s set, with the board cracked in half and the whole area on fire. The post-apocalyptic scene played well with fans, who laughed at Che’s delivery.
White had a couple of slip-ups as the host of Wheel of Fortune and a few viral comments, as well. At one point, she tried to spin the wheel for Final Spin but only got about half a rotation before it stopped.
“That wheel is heavy!” she remarked.
Many fans wondered how White could have gone so many years on that set without ever spinning the wheel. Meanwhile, she misread the arrows as well, believing the wheel landed on “Bankrupt” when it really landed on $500.
“Oh no! My first spin, look at that,” she said, before correcting herself. “Oh no, I’m looking at the wrong arrow! How do you do this show?”
Some fans poked fun at White on social media, while others felt for her. In an interview with The New York Times, she admitted that she was “very nervous” to take over for Sajak.
“Normally I just stand there and I turn my letters, and I’m just happy as cam be not having to worry about anything else,” she said. “But here I am controlling the game, so logistically it was much harder.”
White hit her stride as she filled in for the rest of the week. She is covering for Sajak until Dec. 20, and will then take over for him again from Jan. 6 to Jan. 10. Sajak returns for good on Monday, Jan. 13.
Wheel of Fortune airs on weeknights at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. SNL‘s midseason finale airs next weekend at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
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