Vanna White, 66, is holding her cards — or, should we are saying, letters — near her chest.
On Saturday, the legendary “Wheel of Fortune” letter-turner hopped aboard TMZ’s Celebrity Bus Tour as she was grabbing ice cream along with her son, Nikko, 29, in Beverly Hills.
And, while she placed on a smile for fans, she stayed silent about her future on the sport show amid rumors of a giant salary negotiation between herself and the network.
The outlet captured her temporary appearance on the bus in a video as she greeted riders, but towards the top, someone asked her whether she could be coming back to the show, and even hosting it.
In response, she just laughed and smiled, cheekily telling all of them, “Time to say bye,” as she exited the bus.
The Post reached out to White’s representatives for comment.
Within the wake of Pat Sajak’s retirement, which he announced in early June, Ryan Seacrest was named as the brand new host — leaving White seemingly within the dust.
The star has been a component of the show since 1982, coming in a single yr after Sajak.
Seacrest mentioned working with White in his statement announcing the brand new role, but White has reportedly lawyered up and is negotiating for a raise, something that she hasn’t had in 18 years, in keeping with Puck News.
The outlet reported that she has been making $3 million per yr since 2005, while a 2016 report from Forbes alleged that Sajak cashes in a hefty $15 million a yr for the hosting gig.
She is alleged to have hired “aggressive” powerhouse attorney Bryan Freedman to broker the deal, per the outlet, and is outwardly “holding out” for half of Sajak’s salary, TMZ previously reported — which involves around $7.5 million.
And although White hasn’t said anything publicly in regards to the way forward for the show, a recent report from The Day by day Mail alleged that the 66-year-old seems like the show’s producers have a “lack of respect” for the star.
One insider claimed to the outlet that White feels “disenchanted” since the show’s heads “didn’t give her more of a probability to take over Pat’s job, or that she wasn’t able to provide her two cents on the alternative.”
And, although she still has “respect” for the longstanding “American Idol” host, and is “pleased” to work with him, there’s more happening under the surface.
“But it surely just shows a scarcity of respect in her eyes that they’ve for her,” the source claimed. “She desires to be with the show for so long as she desires to be on the show, on her terms. She believes she deserves it.”
The source also added that the negotiations are still “ongoing,” but when for some reason the star gets replaced, she can be “heartbroken.”
Nevertheless, it looks like White has quite a lot of people in her corner — including former game show stars like “Price Is Right” model Gwendolyn Osborne and “Deal or No Deal” model Claudia Jordan.
“I’m saying it’s about time,” Osborne told “TMZ Live.” late last month. “Vanna White must have been asking this an extended time ago.”
She continued, “I’m so pleased with her to have the ability to be on the place she’s at today, to have the boldness to say, ‘You realize what, whether it’s for me or for the longer term women on this business, this needs to alter. I want more, I deserve more.’”
Season 41 of the show is about to start airing in September.
