Vanna White’s Ultimate Reveal: Television’s Style Icon Announces Surprise Marriage
Vanna White, television’s most enduring style icon and the beloved letter-turner of “Wheel of Fortune,” dropped a sartorial bombshell Wednesday that had nothing to do with sequined gowns and everything to do with matrimonial bliss. The sixty-eight-year-old star took to Instagram to announce her marriage to longtime partner John Donaldson, a real estate developer who captured her heart over a decade ago at what can only be described as the most consequential barbecue in recent celebrity history.
“Surprise! We got married! ❤️” White declared in a caption accompanying a carefully curated series of photographs, including one utterly romantic image of Donaldson carrying his bride in a white dress—a moment that channels old Hollywood glamour with contemporary authenticity. “John and I have been in love for more than a decade, and a little while back, we wanted to make it official in a private ceremony.”
The couple’s origin story reads like a script from classic romance: introduced by a mutual friend at one of White’s 2012 gatherings, the television luminary recalled her immediate attraction. “I remember looking at him and thinking, ‘He’s really cute,'” she confessed to PEOPLE in 2019. “We ended up talking for a long time that night.” That extended conversation evolved into a partnership defined by comfort, compatibility, and the kind of mutual respect that doesn’t require constant validation through traditional milestones.
Indeed, White had previously articulated her ambivalence about formalizing their union. “I mean, we’ve been together twelve years, and I feel like we are married,” she explained to PEOPLE in October 2023. “Do we have to get married? No, because we feel comfortable in our relationship. I know that he’s the one. He knows I’m the one.” What she cherished most was their similarity and ease: “We get along so well. He’s easy, and he lets me be me, and I let him be him.”
Yet somewhere between that declaration and Wednesday’s announcement, something shifted—perhaps the realization that privacy and commitment aren’t mutually exclusive, or simply the desire to celebrate their extraordinary connection with intentional ceremony.
This marks White’s second marriage, following her union with restaurateur George Santo Pietro from 1990 to 2002. But this iteration feels different—less about societal expectations and more about personal choice, executed on their own timeline and terms.
In an industry obsessed with spectacle, White and Donaldson’s quiet ceremony represents the ultimate luxury: intimacy. They’ve proven that true romance doesn’t require red carpets or paparazzi—sometimes it just needs a white dress, strong arms, and over a decade of certainty.
