Wheel of Fortune temporarily replaced Vanna White as the show’s letter-turner. According to TV Line, the game show co-host contracted COVID-19 in July while the show was filming its “Teachers Week” episodes, leading producers to find someone to fill in for her. Puck News reports that California-based “Teacher of the Year” recipient Bridgette Donald-Blue is handling letter-turning duties for a week’s worth of episodes. Fans can check out Wheel of Fortune Season 41 when it premieres on Monday, Sept. 11.
While they seem to be unrelated, White’s absence comes as she has been in the midst of negotiations to return to the show once current host Pat Sajak exits. It was previously reported that White’s annual Wheel of Fortune salary is one-fifth of Pat Sajak’s, as she makes $3 million a year to his $15 million annual salary. TV Line stated that she is threatening to quit unless Sony TV agrees to more than double her pay to $7.5 million. It’s also been reported that White has not had a pay raise in nearly two decades.
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After Sajak announced his planned retirement, rumors began swirling that White was planning to stay with the show, but that she’d hired Freedman to negotiate a new pay raise. A promising update came when it was announced that Ryan Seacrest would be the new host, making over after Sajak’s final season, which will begin later this year. Seacrest wrote a statement about the news, and at the end, he stated, “I can’t wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White.”
However, Puck’s Matthew Belloni soon came forward to report that White and Sony TV still had not come to an agreement on her salary. Per TV Line, there had been rumblings at Sony TV that executives might be considering “eliminating” White’s co-host role when Sajak leaves. While Sony TV did not offer any official comment on the reports, TV Line spoke with an unnamed source who alleges that the rumors are inaccurate and that there “is no plan to eliminate Vanna’s role.” The insider stated, “Sony is in active discussions to renew Vanna’s deal beyond her current contract.”
