Ryan Seacrest Says He Fought for Vanna White to Stay on ‘Wheel of Fortune’: Report

While preparing to replace veteran “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak as the new face of the iconic game show on September 9, 2024, longtime “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest has been plagued by rumors of a rift with Vanna White, who’s served as the game show’s letter-turning co-host since 1982.

However, in the days leading up to his debut, Seacrest has not only claimed that things are going great with White, but that he was the one who insisted that execs keep her on the show. After Seacrest’s hiring was announced in June 2023, White spent months in negotiations, per Variety, before securing an undisclosed pay raise and agreeing to co-star with Seacrest for at least two years, through the 2025-26 season.

On September 1, White admitted to “CBS Sunday Morning” that at the time, she was “very scared” about working with Seacrest after more than 40 years of co-hosting with Sajak, who retired in June. But so far, she told the outlet, things have gone better than she expected.

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Ryan Seacrest Says Letting Vanna White Go Would Have ‘Been a Mistake’

In an interview published on September 5, Seacrest told Variety that as soon as he was hired to take Sajak’s place on “Wheel of Fortune” and also serve as a producer, he “made it very clear” to executives that he wanted White to continue with the show as his co-host.

“As a producer and as the host, I didn’t want to do it with anyone other than Vanna,” he told Variety. “It was critical for me to have her on the show as long as she wants to be. And certainly for the launch — to have two different people would be too much change at once. I made it very clear that that would be a mistake if they didn’t have her on board.”

Seacrest began filming promos with White in February, as seen in videos obtained by TMZ, with bystanders reporting that the two seemed to genuinely have fun together while in Hawaii, where she appeared briefly on “Idol.” He also observed Sajak and White during multiple tapings and got a few tips from his predecessor, he told Variety.

In April, Seacrest told ET Online that once “American Idol” ended its 22nd season in mid-May, he was scheduled to start taping the show with White, calling her “incredible” and saying that they were already getting to know each other better.

But by mid-June, DailyMail.com reported that an “insider source” on the show said White, 67, was finding it impossible to “jibe” with Seacrest, 49, and that she was considering quitting the show over it.

Adding fuel to the fire, Closer Weekly reported on July 4 that an unnamed source said White “isn’t a huge fan of Ryan so far,” adding that after years of working with Sajak, co-hosting with Seacrest felt “forced, and she doesn’t want loyal viewers and her longtime fans to pick up on that.”

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Ryan Seacrest & Vanna White Have Tried to Show Fans They’re ‘Friends’

Seacrest and White have tried to downplay rumors of tension between them. In July, White posted an Instagram photo of the two dining together on “one of our favorites” — chicken and dumplings — and wrote that they were “friends on and off camera.”

In the week leading up to their September 9 season premiere, White and Seacrest have been on a promotional media blitz, telling reporters they’ve found their groove as co-hosts and pals.

White, aware that there are some fans upset to see Seacrest in Sajak’s place, told Los Angeles station ABC7 on August 31, “We’re together now and people will need to get used to seeing us together, but I think that will happen quickly because we get along so well.”

Reiterating their new bond to “CBS This Morning,” she said, “I’ve known Ryan for probably 20 years. But in the past couple of months, we’ve done some traveling together for the show, and we got to know each other a little better, too. So, I think our chemistry is good.”

Seacrest told Variety that he and White first met at the 2007 funeral of media mogul Merv Griffin, who created “Wheel of Fortune” and was an early mentor to Seacrest, even hiring him to host the teen game show “Click” in the 90s.

“It’s very full circle and significant to me,” Seacrest told Variety, adding that he hopes to have longevity on the show. “I hope that it’s a long era. I’ve signed on to do many, many years of this show.”

When Variety asked how many, he replied, “As many as you can get.”

White, meanwhile, told the outlet, “I was not ready to retire. I have at least two more years with the show and we’ll see from there.”

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