'Wheel of Fortune' contestant completes full-circle moment with Vanna White (and a piece of cake)
A feisty, funny Pat Sajack gets some laughs — and a sweet snack — at the show close.
It was a fun capper moment for one Wheel of Fortune contestant Thursday, who after having a chance encounter with Vanna White nearly a decade ago, was able to finally have her cake and (almost) eat it too.
Host Pat Sajak has had some great interactions with contestants already this season, which is the show's 41st and the last for Sajak. He's being succeeded by Ryan Seacrest, while co-host Vanna White has signed on for a few more years.
So the host needed no extra motivation to have some more fun with another contestant, especially when it meant he could get some dessert out of it.
Seeing the cake
After Beryl New from Topeka, Kan., won the opening toss-up puzzle, she told Sajak about a time that she met his co-host, White, in the Myrtle Beach airport around 2015.
“She was so kind. She let me take a picture with her,” New said of White. “She was carrying a pound cake that her friend had made for her, taking it back home.”
New then added with a laugh, “She wouldn’t share the pound cake. But she did share a picture.”
Pound cake aside, Sajak wasn’t surprised by the encounter, saying that White is “unfailingly polite to people.” Little did New know that Sajak and the producers were (literally) cooking up something for her backstage after she told her story.
(Almost) eating the cake
New, who is also a rooster collector with roughly 50 in her possession, went on to win the game with $28,400 and a trip to the bonus round, where she came up just short on what was a rather long puzzle for the bonus round.
After breaking the news to New that she just lost out on $100,000, Sajak told her to stay put because they had something else to do with her at the close of the show. When they returned a short time later, Sajak reminded New of the money she missed out on and then joked, “instead you’re replacing Vanna.”
Actually though, the host recalled New’s story about meeting White but not getting any of the pound cake she was carrying. So they did something about it.
“Vanna, you need to make up for this,” Sajak said as White walked out with a piece of cake on a plate.
“I’m sorry I didn’t give you any of my pound cake,” White said.
“I don’t blame you,” New responded.
But then Sajak just couldn’t help himself and stepped in to intercept the piece of cake just as White was handing it off to New.
“Thank you very much, I appreciate it,” he said as he put a bite onto the fork. “Anyway, we’ll see you next time.”
Wheel of Fortune airs weekdays, check your local listings.
