The Day ’Wheel of Fortune’s Vanna White Did the Unthinkable

Vanna White, the co-host of Wheel of Fortune, found herself amid a grave mistake in 2020. In 1982, Vanna made her first appearance on the popular NBC game show. The original host, Chuck Woolery, and co-host Susan Stafford, stepped down from their roles, giving Pat Sajak and Vanna an opportunity to shine. Vanna took to her role quickly and became almost instantly known for her award-winning smile and stunning outfits.

In each episode, she wore a remarkable dress, each one looking even better than the other. However, there was one catch to her wardrobe. In an interview with ABC in 2017, she revealed she only wore each outfit once. Each week she would try on several dresses, searching for the perfect one. Then, once she was done with the episode, the outfit would go back to its original designer. That is, until 2020, when fans experienced a hint of déjà vu.

‘Wheel of Fortune’s Vanna White Wore a Sleeveless Blue Dress Twice

Each week, Vanna goes through a series of fittings. For the last 40 years, she has tried on approximately 50 dresses each week until Vanna and the production crew select their favorites. She claimed that during this timeframe, over all the years of her career, she had tried on at least 7000 different dresses. Unfortunately, the Wheel of Fortune co-host doesn’t keep or wear the fancy dresses outside the studio. Once she’s done with the episode and the photo shoots, the dresses go right back to where they came from.

Somehow, though, the production crew and the hosts fumbled, resulting in an unforgettable mistake. In 2020, Vanna wore a beautiful sleeveless blue dress. Within that same week, Vanna wore the dress again. Interestingly, it wasn’t even Vanna or the production crew who noticed, but a fan who brought light to the situation. Luckily, though, this mistake doesn’t change her opinion about her career. Vanna enjoys her role in Wheel of Fortune and has no intentions of stepping down anytime soon.

The NBC Show Made a Simple Production Mistake

It took 40 years and 7000 dress changes for the mistakes to come to light. Everyone, including Vanna, seemed mystified by the mishap. The production team keeps a detailed log of which dresses were worn. The logs also contain additional facts or descriptions to help the set keep track of the apparel. They also take photos of Vanna in each dress that’s kept in the studio. The team certainly attempted to avoid this slip up, so for such a silly mistake to occur, in the same week no less, was baffling to many.

However, Vanna and the team seem unsure of how the mishap occurred. She claimed the result could’ve been from an error in the logs or a mix-up in the descriptions, but no one has a clear answer. The duplicate was a mistake, probably resulting in all the dresses over the years getting mixed up in the shuffle and nothing else. From there on out, the production crew and Vanna are taking extra precautions to avoid the situation from happening again. Especially since the situation made her distraught as her flawless streak was officially over. She didn’t try to hide the fact as she posted a video about the mistake.

In the end, sometimes the old saying is true, and all good things must come to an end. Wheel Of Fortune had a long streak going, and it’s almost as if Vanna jinxed herself by claiming in the interview that she never wore the same dress twice. Knowing that the dresses are received weekly, it’s easier to understand why the mistake occurred in the same week. However, this also should’ve limited confusion, but human mistakes are inevitable. It’ll be interesting to see if this mishap occurs again and which dress it might be next time.

Wheel of Fortune Season 42 airs weeknights on ABC. Episodes are also available to stream on YouTube TV in the U.S.

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