'Wheel of Fortune': Pat Sajak's Daughter Maggie Filling in for Vanna White
Pat Sajak's daughter Maggie Sajak is on letter-turning duty for Wednesday night's episode of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. Maggie, 28, will fill in for Vanna White, who will be busy competing on the show. Jeopardy! hosts Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik will also compete in the "Battle of the Hosts."
"I hope to make Vanna proud," Maggie told her father in ABC's preview for the episode. Later, Sajak joked that he was "gonna cry." Maggie also shared a video on her Instagram Story from the Wheel set, showing her "warming up for Wednesday." The episode will air at 9 p.m. ET, following another episode of the Jeopardy! Masters primetime tournament.
The hosts are competing for the charity of their choice. White is hoping to win for St. Jude's Research Hospital, while Bialik plans to donate her winnings to the Mental Health Alliance. Jennings is playing to support the Equal Justice Initiative.
Maggie joined Wheel of Fortune as the show's social correspondent in 2021. She previously co-hosted Wheel with White in January 2020 when her father was recovering from surgery. Maggie is a Princeton University graduate, finished a Columbia University postgraduate program, and studied law. She has grown up with Wheel her entire life, as Sajak has been hosting the show since 1981, 14 years before Maggie was born.
"I grew up on set and everyone on the set is sort of like a family to me already," Sajak told WPVI while visiting Philadelphia in April. "Obviously, you know, my dad really is family, but being able to grow up on set and now, being a part of it in a professional way, it's a dream." Her job as a social correspondent includes taking fans behind the scenes on Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms.
White and Sajak marked 40 years of hosting Wheel of Fortune together in December. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but 40 years ago today I taped my first episode of [Wheel] It's been a wonderful 40 years, too," White wrote on Instagram on Dec. 13. "I'm so grateful to those of you who watch and everyone behind the scenes who make us look good. We wouldn't still be here without all of you! (And the cake was delicious!)"
White joined Wheel of Fortune in 1982 and became the permanent letter-turner later that year. She and Sajak have been hosting the popular syndicated version of Wheel non-stop since September 1983. White and Sajak only competed on Wheel together once, back in 1997 during a special April Fools' Day episode in which the late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek joined them to trick the audience.