Some upcoming episodes of “Wheel of Fortune” will reportedly air without Vanna White because she is currently in contract discussions with the show’s producers.
White, 66, reportedly contracted COVID-19 in late July while “Wheel” was filming its annual “Teachers Week,” which is set to debut in October, according to a report published on Friday by Puck News.
White was presumably replaced by Bridgette Donald-Blue, a former “Teacher of the Year” award winner, at the letter board for the upcoming episodes.
The Post has asked for reaction from Sony representatives.
This will be the first time in nearly 30 years that White hasn’t appeared on the show. It also occurs during stressful contract negotiations in which she is supposedly seeking her first raise in allegedly 18 years.
White is said to have recruited high-powered “aggressive” attorney Bryan Freedman in order to return to the show, despite the fact that she is said to be making only half as much as Pat Sajak, 76, and that Ryan Seacrest, 48, has been announced as Sajak’s successor when he retires in 2024.
“Fifty percent of Pat’s salary is so outrageous that no one in their right mind could say that it’s fair,” an unidentified insider alleged to People last month.
“The negotiation is asking for much more than 50% of his salary. It’s asking for the same pay — if not more,” they continued.
In a recently resurfaced interview with Esquire, White once claimed that she “worked harder” than Sajak
“My position is much more, what’s the word? I work a lot harder,” joked White. “I’ve walked thousands of miles. And he didn’t have to do that. In my heels, no less.”
Season 41 of “Wheel” premieres on Sept. 11.
