Come on down… Vanna White? The Price Is Right fans found an old video of the Wheel of Fortune host on TikTok and YouTube before she was a staple on the game show. Host Bob Barker appeared to flirt with her throughout the segment.
White, 23 years old at the time, appeared on The Price Is Right on June 20, 1980, and was one of the first four contestants called down to Bidder’s Row. She joined Wheel in 1982. Vanna White had long brown hair and a tan at the time and wore jeans and a baby blue shirt that said, “Get Serious.” She also had glasses resting on the top of her head.
Barker made a comment about her shirt when she got to her place at the podium. “The crew members backstage have monitors when the contestants come up here. He read your shirt that said, ‘Get Serious,’ and he said, ‘I am.’ I thought you’d like to know that.” She laughed awkwardly at his remark. White looked completely different than she does now, 45 years later.
She bid $600 on exercise equipment. The actual retail price was $509, so White didn’t win that bid since the woman next to her bid $350. White didn’t win on the second bid either. On the third bid, everyone went over so they had to rebid. She was only $3 under her fellow contestant who won the bid.
White didn’t have any luck on the fourth or fifth bids either. On the sixth bid, she went last and asked what the bids were again. “You’re too busy looking at yourself in the monitor that you’re not paying attention to the bids,” Barker said. White finally bid $695 but was over as the retail price was $620.
“If I was choosing a contestant, I would have definitely picked her,” a TikTok user said.
“She’s as adorable now as she was then, 45 years ago!” commented another.
“She’s so cute,” wrote a third.
“She was a smoke show,” one last fan said.
“She had that perfect late 70’s early 80’s vibe. Very cool,” a YouTube user wrote.
“Wow. ‘Stunning’ doesn’t begin to describe young Vanna. I’m glad she had the epic, legendary career that she has,” commented another.
In an interview with Elvis Duran in March 2025, White recounted her time on TPIR. She said she “didn’t win a dang thing” and would never go back on the game show now because it would be “turning her back on Wheel of Fortune.”
“I’m loyal,” she said.