Vanna White has long been a mainstay on the Wheel Of Fortune stage, working on the show long enough to see several different big boards come and go in the process. The job has changed a bit, too: she’s no longer spinning physical letters around but activating them electronically. And, honestly, it seems like a pretty good gig! But not everyone seems on board with the occupation, and we now know that one of her contemporaries overseas apparently despised their role of “turning bloody letters around.”
According to The Daily Mail, Jenny Powell wasn’t a big fan of her Vanna White-esque job on the UK version of Wheel of Fortune in the 90s. Powell first appeared on the UK version of Wheel in 1995, and it helped launch her career. But it turns out she was never a big fan of the work itself, saying “you’re just turning letters round and not saying anything” when discussing the gig on a new podcast.
She shared: ‘I ended up doing The Wheel of Fortune, which I hated it. It was the biggest thing, but I hated it. Because I was just a girl turning bl***y letters around.’
…
She said: ‘If someone said to you, right Jenny you are going to wear a really short skirt and we are all going to discuss the length of it for like four meetings, wear high heel shoes and turn some letters around and just look pretty and don’t say anything.’
‘Would you, do it? I know what I would tell my daughter today. I wasn’t actually allowed to speak.’
Simplifying the job to just turning letters seems a bit unfair, but Powell’s real criticism here is that she wasn’t allowed to inject any personality into the role. Couple that with what sounds like demeaning meetings about wardrobe and it’s easy to understand why she wasn’t thrilled with the work. And a quick look at some episodes on YouTube showcases that dissonance between what Powell likely wanted from the role and what she was forced to do.
There’s significantly more back and forth between Powell and host John Leslie than you normally see between White and US host Pat Sajak, who save their brief banter for the end of the show. Either way, Powell made it clear that she wouldn’t recommend anyone else take on the “glamorous assistant” role anytime soon.
[via Daily Mail]