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Vanna White

Ryan Seacrest

Jim Thornton

Bellamie Blackstone

Vanna White is the co-host of Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.

Since her debut on the daytime version of Wheel of Fortune in 1982, Vanna has appeared in varieties of the show that have aired in every daypart. She has starred in more than 7,500 episodes of America’s Game®, revealing letters on the iconic puzzleboard, cheering on contestants, and dazzling in a new outfit every night. In 2019, Vanna stepped into the host position for three weeks of shows while Pat Sajak was recovering from emergency surgery.

For her work at the iconic puzzleboard, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce honored Vanna with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in April 2006. In April 2018, Vanna was inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, along with Host Pat Sajak, former Executive Producer Harry Friedman and Wheel of Fortune itself. She is also the godmother of Carnival’s newest ship, The Panorama, and christened the ship in December of 2019.

 

In 2021, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune debuted in primetime on ABC and will kick off its third season in September.

With her success, Vanna has given back to those in need. Combining her passions for crocheting and helping children, she launched her own line of yarn called “Vanna’s Choice,” from which a portion of the proceeds are donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. To date, Vanna has donated over $2 million through “Vanna’s Choice” sales. She also lends her support to other causes wherever she can. She has worked on projects for American Cancer Society, Rebuilding Together, Feeding America, Los Angeles Food Bank, American Heart Association, Susan G. Komen Foundation and Verizon Wireless’s literacy campaign, among others.

White grew up in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. After attending the Atlanta School of Fashion Design and becoming one of the area’s top models, she moved to Los Angeles in 1980 to pursue an acting career when she caught the eye of Merv Griffin and was selected to succeed Susan Stafford as the Co-Host of Wheel of Fortune.

When she isn’t on television, Vanna enjoys spending time with her family which include her longtime boyfriend, John, and her two children, Nicholas and Giovanna.

Ryan Seacrest is an Emmy-Winning television host, radio personality, producer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Seacrest is the host and producer of the #1 Los Angeles morning drive-time show for iHeartMedia’s 102.7 KIIS-FM, the nationally syndicated “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” and “American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest.” Seacrest also previously co-hosted and co-executive produced ABC’s award-winning show “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” for which he earned an Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host.

For 22 seasons, Seacrest has hosted ABC’s American Idol, and earned several Emmy Award nominations for his work on the show. Additionally, Seacrest continues to be a television fixture as the host of the annual live broadcast of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” since 2005. In Fall 2024, he began hosting Wheel of Fortune during its 42nd season.Seacrest has also produced a number of hit series including E!’s Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and its spinoffs, as well as E!’s E! Live From The Red Carpet, Netflix’s Insatiable, NBC’s Shades of Blue starring Jennifer Lopez, and the Emmy Award-winning series Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution for ABC.

Seacrest’s philanthropic efforts include serving as founder and chairman of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF), which has successfully installed thirteen broadcast media centers – Seacrest Studios – in pediatric hospitals nationwide. Seacrest Studios reaches an estimated 2.3 million patients and families through its programming annually. He also serves on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and on the board of trustees of the Paley Center for Media.


 

Jim Thornton is the announcer for Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. Since his start with the show in 2011, Thornton has become a popular figure among fans, especially on the game show’s social media platforms.

One of the most popular and distinctive voices in Southern California, Thornton has been a part of KNX 1070 Newsradio since 1985. He began by providing traffic reports through the syndicated service, “Metro Traffic.” He later became a full-time morning traffic anchor for both KNX and CBS2 News, and in 2005, was promoted to afternoon drive news co-anchor on KNX. Thornton can still be heard there weekdays when he’s not taping at Wheel of Fortune.  He can also be seen hosting pledge drives for Southern California’s venerable public television station KCET and as a NODcaster™ for Now On Deck™, a site that connects fans with their favorite personalities to provide personalized messages.

In his hometown of Huntington, W. Va., Thornton began his broadcast career in 1983 at WOWK-TV while attending Marshall University. A year later, he moved to California and by 1989, he had his own morning show on Magic 94.3 FM in the San Fernando Valley. In 1992, Thornton became a “Hot Country” disc jockey for Westwood One Radio Networks, hosting a live music broadcast from coast to coast. From 1995 to 1999, he was the voice of Channel 13, KCOP-TV, in Los Angeles.

Over the course of his career, Thornton has received numerous broadcasting awards including the Edward R. Murrow award, Golden Mike awards and an Emmy.  He also lent his voice to the 2011 Oscar-Nominated Short Animated Film, “Let’s Pollute.”

Viewers may also recognize Thornton’s voice from his diverse body of voiceover work including: Disney’s “Monsters, Inc.” movie, theme park ride and Disney on Ice show; television shows: “Celebrity Deathmatch,” “The Soup,” “The Cleveland Show,” “Rugrats” and “The Drew Carey Show;” national TV and radio campaigns for: Cricket Wireless, Sonic Drive-in, Domino’s Pizza, Bacardi, Budweiser, Kellogg’s Cereal, Intel and Kraft Lunchables; and video games: “Boom Blox 2,” “Wall-E,” “Finding Nemo,” “Cars” and “Mafia II.”

Thornton lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Sue, and their son, Sam. He and Sam are both Advanced Open Water SCUBA divers, and the entire family supports JDRF ever since Sam was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2009.

Bellamie Blackstone is the Executive Producer of Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. She joined the game shows in 2022 with the goal of creating additional opportunities for contestants to win exciting prizes and finding more ways to involve viewers while continuing to build and grow the brand. During the 40th and 41st seasons of Wheel of Fortune, she did just that by introducing new game elements and tournament style theme weeks that added a fresh take to the classic game. Blackstone also produced the monumental final episodes of host, Pat Sajak. The sentimental farewell delivered the syndicated series’ best ratings in over four years with 11.03 million viewers tuning in.

Blackstone joined Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune with 20 years of experience producing a diverse slate of television programming that spans broadcast and streaming platforms. Some more recent credits include serving as Executive Producer of “History of Swear Words,” hosted by Nicholas Cage for Netflix; “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” hosted by Tiffany Haddish for ABC then CBS; and “I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman” for Hulu. Her prior experience in the game show space consists of “Press Your Luck,” “Deal or No Deal,” and “1 vs. 100.”

Some other highlights include working on the Comedy Central show @midnight, which gave Blackstone the opportunity to work with over 900 comedians across 600 episodes that brought humor and insight to pop culture and the day's events. Her work with Will Farrell and Molly Shannon on the Live HBO Special, The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Tish! covering the wedding of Harry and Meghan afforded her the opportunity to be a part of the excitement of the historic event in a fun and creative way.

Blackstone’s journey in the entertainment industry began when her parents’ magic show, The Blackstone! Show, opened on Broadway when she was 11 weeks old. After a childhood spent traveling with and performing in their show, she graduated from USC with a degree in Theater Arts, deciding television was a great way to start her career and hasn’t looked back.  

Blackstone is repped by Debra Goldfarb at The Gersh Agency.

 

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Credits

  • EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

    Bellamie Blackstone

  • CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

    Genna Gintzig

  • SUPERVISING PRODUCER

    Amanda Stern

  • CONSULTING PRODUCER

    Ryan Seacrest

  • DIRECTED BY

    Alex Van Wagner

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