The Tragic True-Life Story Of Vanna White

Child of divorce Game show mainstay Vanna White has  lived through plenty of dark times,   often while she was appearing on Wheel  of Fortune. While she was charming   viewers at home, she was battling  some truly tragic personal demons. Born in 1957 to Joan Marie and Mike Rosich  in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,   Vanna White's parents divorced while she was still  young, with some sources suggesting she wasn't   even a year old at the time of the separation.  Because she was so young at the time, White   likely had little to no memory of the split and  it didn't significantly affect her going forward. After her mother remarried, White formed a close  bond with her stepfather, Herbert Stackley White   Jr. She eventually adopted his surname as  her own and dropped her father's last name,   which has Spanish and Puerto Rican origins.  The White family continued to live in North   Myrtle Beach. When she was 12, White went to  New York City to meet her biological father,   and although they would keep  in touch throughout his life,   she immediately realized the man she considered  her father was and would always be Herb White. "It all worked out real well." Loss of her mother White moved out of the family home almost  immediately after graduating from high   school. She relocated to Atlanta, Georgia,  where she was enrolled in the Atlanta School   of Fashion and Design. She next ended up in Los  Angeles, where she tried her hand at modeling   and acting. However, her first stint in Los  Angeles was cut short when she returned home   to South Carolina in 1980 to spend time with her  mother, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. White was at her mother's side during her  final days, until her death on July 10,   1980. At the time of her mother's death, White  was just 23 years old. After the funeral,   Joan White's ashes were scattered  at sea. Once that was done,   White returned to Hollywood to  kickstart her acting career. Career struggles These days, White is one of the most  recognizable faces on television,   but she struggled to make it, early on. "I would go on at least 100  interviews before I got a job." Her first television credit was in  the 1981 TV movie Midnight Offerings,   followed by roles in Graduation Day and Looker. Throughout the early 1980s, White had  small roles in a number of TV series,   including Star of the Family and The A-Team. She  was also part of the principal cast of the film   Gypsy Angels with Richard Roundtree, although  the film wouldn't be released until 1990. She   recalled how tough those early days were in an  interview with the Associated Press, saying, ″I was living [...] in an apartment with no bed,   sleeping on the floor. I got a job  down the street waiting tables and   tending bar at Luigi's. I worked there  for a year and was able to buy a bed.″ Also in 1980, White was a contestant on  the popular game show The Price Is Right,   just two years before she auditioned for  her now famous role on Wheel of Fortune. "Vanna White! Come on down! You are the first  four contestants on the Price is Right!" Heartbreaking loss Around the time that she first began work on Wheel  of Fortune, White dated and eventually became   engaged to John Gibson. Having also moved to Los  Angeles to find work as an actor, Gibson first   rose to fame after appearing as a centerfold in  Playgirl magazine. He later went on to become one   of the most popular dancers at the Chippendales  male striptease club, acting as a spokesperson   for the brand. Gibson also had a number of  television and film roles and went on to have   a regular role on the daytime soap The Young and  the Restless, as strip club owner Jerry Cashman. On May 17, 1986, Gibson was piloting a  rented Trinidad TB20 airplane when the   aircraft crashed during landing  at the Van Nuys airport. Gibson,   who was 37 years old at the time, was  killed when the aircraft hit a curb and   exploded. His body was so badly burned that  dental records were required to identify him. "I fell to my knees. I just lost  control of everything. I knew." Gibson's death devastated White. But  she was eventually able to return to   work and move on with her life thanks  to the outpouring of support from fans.   She recalled the aftermath of  the tragedy to People, saying, "I heard from so many people who had shared the  same experience of losing someone instantly in   an accident, and that really helped  me. I didn't feel like I was alone." The Playboy debacle In 1987, Vanna White appeared in Playboy  magazine. While she wasn't fully nude,   the images did show her wearing  lingerie and posing suggestively. White,   who was afraid she might lose her job  on Wheel of Fortune over the pics,   went on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny  Carson to apologize to the public. The   Playboy photographs shocked much of the  country, but things weren't quite as they   initially seemed and it was later revealed that  White hadn't actually posed for Playboy at all. Explaining the situation to Fox News, White said: "When I first moved to Hollywood, I was  too embarrassed to ask my dad for rent   money. I was young and I wanted to do it on  my own. So, I did these lingerie shots and   from the moment I said I would do them,  I thought, 'I shouldn't be doing this,   but I'm not going to ask my dad for  money, so I'm just going to do it!'" Hugh Hefner later purchased the pictures and  printed them in Playboy, taking advantage of   White's fame after she became a pop culture  fixture on Wheel of Fortune. White tried to   sue Playboy and Hefner to stop publication of  the photographs, but dropped the case out of a   belief that the public would believe the images  were more intimate than they actually were. Divorce On New Year's Eve 1990, four  years after Gibson's death,   White married restaurateur and film producer  George Santo Pietro in Aspen, Colorado. "I think Vanna was at a point in her  life where children were going to be in   her future. And I either had to step up to  the plate and share that with her or not." In 1992, White announced her pregnancy via a  puzzle on Wheel of Fortune. Just a week later,   however, she miscarried. She told People, "I so wanted to be pregnant and have a  baby, so then when I finally got pregnant,   I wanted to tell the world immediately. Obviously  I lost the baby, which was devastating after   announcing it. The good news is I was able  to get pregnant again and had two beautiful,   healthy children. But losing a child  — there's nothing good about that." White's first child, a son named  Nicholas, was born in 1994,   followed by daughter Giovanna in 1997.  However, the relationship with Pietro was   not to last. They separated in November  2001 and filed for divorce in 2002. The announcement came after reports in 1999  that Pietro had cheated on White with a series   of mistresses. These rumors were never proven  and the court documents stipulated that the   split was due to irreconcilable differences.  White and Pietro's separation was seemingly   amicable and the two shared custody  of their children. Since the divorce,   Pietro has largely stayed out of the  limelight, which is not surprising   considering the fact that he and White  rarely made public appearances together. Unlucky in love After her divorce from Santo Pietro, White began a  relationship with Michael Kaye. They were together   from 2004 until 2006 and, at one point, were even  engaged to be married. In fact, similarly to the   way she'd previously announced her pregnancy,  White used the show to inform viewers that she   was going to marry Kaye — although this time it  was through the release of a publicity shot rather   than in a recorded episode. Kaye, a businessman  who owned the security firm Westec InterActive,   never married White and no reason was given  for why the relationship ultimately ended. She has since been in a long-term  relationship with her boyfriend,   real estate developer John Donaldson. The  pair met at a barbecue. White told People, "I remember looking at him and thinking,   'He's really cute,' We ended up  talking for a long time that night." They've been together ever since. Commenting  on their relationship, White shared, "It just works. He lets me be me, I  let him be him. There is no drama." Her stepfather's death White always had a close relationship  with her stepfather, Herbert White Jr.,   the man that she considered to be her dad. "I fell in love with her as a  two-year-old, and Joan at the same time." The pair remained close following the death of  her mother decades earlier. White frequently   spoke about Herbert on Wheel of Fortune,  revealing how much she cared for him,   that they remained in constant contact,  and that she called him every morning.   She also posted touching tributes  to him on her social media accounts On April 1, 2022, White made a post on X reading, "It is with great sadness that I tell you  my 96 year old dad passed away peacefully   this morning. He lived a full and happy life  and will be remembered as one of the kindest   and most wonderful human beings of North  Myrtle Beach. I love you so much dad." As was the case with other  deep losses in White's life,   fans and Wheel of Fortune viewers were  quick to show their support. Many posted   messages of sympathy online and  expressed their love for White. "You must continue on. There's reasons  for everything. Whatever they may be." The wheel of fortune‌ Longtime host Pat Sajak retired  from Wheel of Fortune in 2024,   with his final episode airing on June 7.  It proved to be an emotional farewell.   White spoke about their time together in a  specially recorded clip for the show, saying, "I can't believe that tomorrow is our last  show together. Eight thousand episodes went   by like that. When I first started, I  was so green. You made me so comfortable   and made me so confident, Pat. You  made me who I am, you really did." "The most Pat ever let you say was what?" "Well, there's been many sentences I've said." Sajak and White worked together on the  series for more than four decades and   shared a close bond. White often spoke  about her love for her co-host and the   time they spent together. In an  interview with People, she said, "He's my TV husband. You know,  we've been together ... 40   years is a lot to be with somebody.  We've been through a lot together." "I probably would not have chosen  Vanna. Not that she wasn't charming   and beautiful and all those things.  She still is. But she was petrified." White insisted she and Sajak would continue to  see each other in their personal lives, saying, "I think when [series creator]  Merv Griffin chose both of us,   40 and 41 years ago, he saw something between  us — a brother/sister-type relationship. He saw   that we would be able to get along, I think. And  we do. We are like a brother and sister team."