DAILY DIRT: ‘It’s not the most intellectual job in the world, but I do have to know the letters’

Vanna White’s time on ‘Wheel Of Fortune” is drawing to an end … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,070 of The Daily Dirt.

1. One of my all-time favorite game shows is “Wheel of Fortune,” largely because of hostess/letter turner Vanna White.

Over the years, more of White’s personality has been allowed to emerge and I have always found her quite entertaining and capable of doing much more than simply turning those letters and providing assistance for longtime quizmaster Pat Sajak. 

Since the game show has been on since January 1975, I would guess anyone reading today’s Daily Dirt has watched the program at least a few times during the past 49 years — but did you know that:

• Vanna, who is now 67, has only worn one outfit twice in her 42-plus years years on the show? (For those wondering, she’s under contract to the show through the 2025-26 season and then plans to retire.)
• Her real name is Vanna Marie Rosich.
• She reportedly makes $55,000-plus per episode. Along with outside interests, White’s annual salary is reportedly more than $15 million per year.
• Vanna appeared on a handful of other game shows in the late 1970s and was a contestant on “The Price Is Right” in 1980, where she was spotted by the powers-to-be for “Wheel Of Fortune”. She also had some minor movie roles.

• Eventually, in 1982, White was selected to replace Susan Stafford on “Wheel of Fortune” from a field of more than 200 hopefuls.
• Until the recent retirement of Sajak, he and White had served as the heart and soul of “Wheel Of Fortune” since late 1982. (For the record, Sajak’s annual salary at retirement was $15 million. His replacement, Ryan Seacrest, is making $28 million.)
• In a 2017 interview with Fox News, White said she she regretted posing for a risqué lingerie shoot that later appeared on the cover and inside the May 1987 issue of Playboy magazine. She said she only took the racy photos to help pay her rent when she left her hometown of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to pursue a showbiz career in Los Angeles.

Here are my favorite medal-worthy Vanna White quotes, and examples, I think, of that personality I mentioned earlier:

• Gold medal: “It’s not the most intellectual job in the world, but I do have to know the letters.”
• Silver medal: “I (once) smoked some pot with two wilder girls and came home with such an intense case of the munchies that I ate an entire meatloaf.”
• Bronze medal: “I enjoy getting dressed as a Barbie doll.”

2.  Did you know (Part 134)

• That the almost-280 million Netflix subscribers watch about 203 million hours of programming each day.
• That McDonald’s fries contain a natural beef flavoring, making them unsuitable for vegetarians. 
• That Americans drink around 21 billion gallons of milk each year.
• That staying up all night uses about 160 calories.
• That technically, every new mirror you buy in a store is used.
• That employees at Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream are permitted to take home three pints of ice cream each day.

3. What did we find on Facebook this week?

Well, since you asked :

• “Deja Poo: The feeling of having heard this crap before.”
• “I feel that tacos are more important than pumpkin spice. There, I said it. Fight me.”
• “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.”
• “We no longer accept a doctor’s note as proof of your sickness. If you are able to go the doctor, you are able to come to work.”
• “I’m not old. I’m youthfully challenged.”

Steve Thought O’ The Day

In Australia, glow-in-the-dark paint is used for highway markings so motorists can see their way much easier after the sun goes down. This is a tremendous idea.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Was anyone else underwhelmed when it was announced Ryan Seacrest would take over for Pat Sajak? I thought the idea was to attract new viewers?