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\n Related: <\/span>Vanna White Shares Pat Sajak Update After His \u2018Wheel of Fortune\u2019 Exit<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tPat Sajak and Vanna White have always been the ultimate example of cohost chemistry \u2014 but their Wheel of Fortune destinies could have been very different. \u201cI didn\u2019t recommend Vanna, and Vanna knows this,\u201d Sajak told CBS Sunday Morning in 2020 while reflecting on White\u2019s audition nearly four decades prior. \u201cNot that she wasn\u2019t lovely [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very happy,\u201d White told E! News<\/em><\/a> in December 2025 about her and Donaldson\u2019s relationship. \u201cWe\u2019ve been together for a long time and we are just happy the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\nWhite noted that after being together more than a decade she and the real estate developer weren\u2019t hung up on their marital status.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe people want to see us get married,\u201d she said, but explained, \u201cWhen you\u2019ve been with someone for so long, you kind of feel like you\u2019re already married. You don\u2019t have to have that piece of paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to walking down the aisle with Donaldson, White was married to film producer George Santo Pietro<\/strong> from 1990 to 2002. The exes share two children, son Nikko, 31, and daughter Gigi, 28.<\/p>\nA decade after her divorce, White met Donaldson through a mutual friend at a barbecue and the pair began dating in 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember looking at him and thinking, \u2018He\u2019s really cute,\u2019\u201d White told People<\/em><\/a> in October 2019 of meeting Donaldson. \u201cWe ended up talking for a long time that night.\u201d<\/p>\nA few years later, White addressed the topic of marriage, telling People<\/em><\/a> in October 2023, \u201cI feel like we are married. Do we have to get married? No, because we feel comfortable in our relationship. You know what I mean? I know that he\u2019s the one. He knows I\u2019m the one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n![\"Wheel](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Wheel-of-Fortune-Vanna-White-Marries-John-Donaldson-in-Surprise-Wedding-After-13-Years.jpg?w=1000&quality=78&strip=all\")
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\n Vanna White, John Donaldson and her two children.<\/span> Courtesy of Vanna White\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe TV personality<\/a> said she was confident in her and Donaldson\u2019s relationship and shared her best piece of advice for a lasting romance.<\/p>\n\u201cDon\u2019t be in a relationship because you\u2019re lonely, because if you\u2019re not happy, you\u2019re still lonely,\u201d White revealed. \u201cJust be who you are, and don\u2019t let anybody change who you are. It\u2019s nice when they make you feel good about yourself, or they love who you are as a person and don\u2019t want to change you. It\u2019s got to be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to her and Donaldson\u2019s dynamic, she told the outlet, \u201cWe get along so well. He\u2019s easy. He\u2019s easy, and he lets me be me, and I let him be him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside of her love life, White has made headlines about her career over the past few years, especially after Pat Sajak<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s exit from Wheel of Fortune<\/em> left her gig on the show in limbo.<\/p>\nWhite worked alongside Sajak, 79, beginning in 1983. Sajak announced in June 2023<\/a> that his final season would begin that September.<\/p>\n\n
White noted that after being together more than a decade she and the real estate developer weren\u2019t hung up on their marital status.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe people want to see us get married,\u201d she said, but explained, \u201cWhen you\u2019ve been with someone for so long, you kind of feel like you\u2019re already married. You don\u2019t have to have that piece of paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to walking down the aisle with Donaldson, White was married to film producer George Santo Pietro<\/strong> from 1990 to 2002. The exes share two children, son Nikko, 31, and daughter Gigi, 28.<\/p>\n A decade after her divorce, White met Donaldson through a mutual friend at a barbecue and the pair began dating in 2012.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember looking at him and thinking, \u2018He\u2019s really cute,\u2019\u201d White told People<\/em><\/a> in October 2019 of meeting Donaldson. \u201cWe ended up talking for a long time that night.\u201d<\/p>\n A few years later, White addressed the topic of marriage, telling People<\/em><\/a> in October 2023, \u201cI feel like we are married. Do we have to get married? No, because we feel comfortable in our relationship. You know what I mean? I know that he\u2019s the one. He knows I\u2019m the one.\u201d<\/p>\n The TV personality<\/a> said she was confident in her and Donaldson\u2019s relationship and shared her best piece of advice for a lasting romance.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t be in a relationship because you\u2019re lonely, because if you\u2019re not happy, you\u2019re still lonely,\u201d White revealed. \u201cJust be who you are, and don\u2019t let anybody change who you are. It\u2019s nice when they make you feel good about yourself, or they love who you are as a person and don\u2019t want to change you. It\u2019s got to be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n When it comes to her and Donaldson\u2019s dynamic, she told the outlet, \u201cWe get along so well. He\u2019s easy. He\u2019s easy, and he lets me be me, and I let him be him.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside of her love life, White has made headlines about her career over the past few years, especially after Pat Sajak<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s exit from Wheel of Fortune<\/em> left her gig on the show in limbo.<\/p>\n White worked alongside Sajak, 79, beginning in 1983. Sajak announced in June 2023<\/a> that his final season would begin that September.<\/p>\n<\/div>
\n Vanna White, John Donaldson and her two children.<\/span> Courtesy of Vanna White\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n