Unapologetically is a Yahoo Life series in which people get the chance toshare how they live their best life — out loud and in color, without fear orregret — looking back at the past with a smile and embracing the future withexcited anticipation.
Vanna White, 65, has reigned as co-host of Wheel of Fortune for 40 years now— a role, she tells Yahoo Life, that never gets “monotonous.”
“I have a different dress on, we have different puzzles,” she explains. “So Itreat every show like it’s brand new and it’s so much fun.”
The game show, which she co-hosts alongside Pat Sajak, does __ look differentthis year, thanks to the new LED screen puzzle board. White, however, is stillas glamorous as ever, with her ever-changing array of designer gowns. Justdon’t expect her to look as dolled up at home.
“I feel like I’m the same person I’ve always been growing up in North MyrtleBeach, South Carolina. I really am myself,” she says. “On TV, I’m dressed upglamorous and so forth. But when I go home, I’m in sweats and jeans and tennisshoes — but I’m still the same person on the inside.”
White may be a fashion icon, but she says she takes little credit for herstyle choices on camera.
“Through 40 years, we have had many changes. From the big shoulder pads to theskimpy dresses, I’ve worn it all,” she explains. “The designers send theirlatest clothes every year and I wear them. So it’s really up to them. It’stheir style and I’m modeling their clothes. So the pressure really isn’t on me— I am who I am on TV. When I’m off TV, you’re just going to see me in jeansand no makeup.”
Vanna White talks with Yahoo Life about her romance rules and why she doesn’toverthink aging. (Photo: Getty Images)
That’s why she says she doesn’t see herself as much of a “sex symbol.”
“I’m just so simple and comfortable and not glammed out all the time,” sheexplains. “I feel like I’m just that country girl.”
White does feel pressure when watching herself age on camera, joking that it’s”depressing” to see how much she’s changed since she started her work on_Wheel of Fortune_ when she “was a baby.”
Story continues
“I’m not a young spring chicken anymore and, it is what it is,” she says. “Ido the best I can. I eat pretty good. I exercise. I just try to stay healthy,and be the best I can at my age. That’s all you can do.”
White’s preferred form of exercise is her spin bike, which she does five daysa week, as well as regular push-ups and and sit-ups.
“I’m still wearing these clothes that I’ve been wearing for the past 40years,” she says. “I have to do a fitting every couple of weeks, so I need tofit into these sample sizes. That keeps me encouraged.”
As for beauty advice, there’s one daily ritual she swears by.
“The best piece of beauty advice that I can offer is to wear sunblock, and notonly on your face and your body, but your hands,” she says. “As we get older,you can tell a woman’s age by her hands…Don’t leave them out because you’realways driving and the sun’s always on them.”
White was previously married to George Santo Pietro from 1990 to 2002, and thetwo share two children, now in their 20s. In terms of the advice she givesthem, she says, “Don’t get married until you’re 30. You can live with yourgirlfriend or boyfriend. You can have all the fun you want. Just don’t getmarried until you ‘re 30.”
Her reasoning? “We all go through many different things throughout our younglife,” she says.
“I think we mature as we get older and just, why not? Wait until you’re 30,you can still do all the same stuff,” she says. “Just don’t tie that knot,just in case.”
White never remarried after the end of her relationship with Pietro, but shehas __ found love with John Donaldson, her partner of 11 years. The couplekeep their romance low key — her perfect date night, she says, is “going outto dinner, having a bottle of wine” or even just a hike or walk.
“I don’t see us ever being apart,” she says. “He’s my soulmate and I’mextremely happy.”
– Video produced by Stacy Jackman
Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the ** who*behind the* ** hi with Yahoo Life ‘s newsletter. Sign up here