Wheel of Fortune‘s Pat Sajak Makes Rare Appearance After Retirement

4. As for Vanna, she grew up in South Carolina. According to her bio, she studied at a fashion design school in Atlanta before pursuing a career in modeling—with her then moving to L.A. to try acting. It was there she was spotted by Merv and auditioned for Wheel of Fortune. “I was probably more nervous than any other person that auditioned,” Vanna told CBS 58 in 2019, “and 200 girls auditioned—and I was the last one.” 5. In fact, Wheel of Fortune previously revealed that the very first letter Vanna turned on the puzzle board was T.6. Meanwhile, Jim Thornton joined Wheel of Fortune as the announcer in 2011. Previously, he did voice work for several movies, TV shows and commercials—including Monsters, Inc., Rugrats and Celebrity Deathmatch.