Photo: Gerardo Mora/Getty Images
The wheel has been spinning for more than 35 years with Pat Sajak and Vanna White dolling out cash and prize fortunes left and right, but when will the happy couple lose their turn?
Since 1982, Wheel of Fortune has seen a few aesthetic changes that fall in alignment with the times, but what was once considered an evolving set has now become a measuring stick for the co-hosts’ aging process. At 60, White celebrates pacing the stage and moving letters more than half her life (and doing so in more than 6,500 dresses), a weighty task for anybody that has its cost. Although as much as can be done to stave off the weariness of the 2,400-pound wheel’s bidding, it’s only a matter of time before the show must adapt again to appease its deteriorating hosts with extreme measures.
‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Expected To Implement Wheelchair Ramp After 35 Years to Appease Vanna White’s Unfortunately Withering Body
Photo: NBC
Have a look at the evolution of Wheel of Fortune over the past 35 years and they move forward into the next 35 years, at which point Vanna will be 95.
When Vanna started in 1982, she was 25 years old.
Photo: NBC
She was a contestant for Miss Georgia just years before her first TV appearance, which happened to be as a contestant on The Price Is Right. In 1982, she was amongst two other women filling in as substitute hosts after the departure of Susan Stafford. Thirty-five years ago, she was spinning revolving letters, which took a little bit more time and effort than it does today.
The wheel and board evolve every decade.
The original board was a simple, three-row display that housed up to 39 letters. The year Sajak took over, 1981, the board was extended to four rows with up to 48 letters. By 1997, the board was digitized with up to 52 letters, and the wheel added more than bankrupt and lose-a-turn options, now with a $1 million option on the bonus wheel.
Vanna had 15 years of spinning letters, and 20 of touching them.
Photo: Imgur
The two have always been chummy, but there have been strange moments.
In another 35 years, the show will need wheelchair access.
It has become apparent that the show has gone through a lot of changes over 35 years, and in another 35, Vanna will be 95. And Sajak will be 106, at which time the show will introduce a paper wheel to replace the 2,400-pound one.
