Vanna White: I learned I was hosting Wheel of Fortune 30 minutes before taping

Vulture

“P-A-N-I-C. Panic is the word that comes to mind!,” White said with a laugh, recalling to Vulture when she was told at the last minute last month that she had to fill in for Pat Sajak, who was undergoing emergency surgery. “Our executive producer came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Pat has to go into emergency surgery right now. How would you feel about hosting the show?’ Panic set it at that moment, but I made a quick decision and realized the show must go on. I felt like I had to do it, and I did. I did have a choice, but I didn’t. I had no practice whatsoever. It was just before it.” White said of hosting episodes of Wheel for the first time: "It was a huge shift because all of a sudden all the attention was on me."