'Wheel of Fortune' co-host Vanna White is a mom of 2: What to know about her kids
When Vanna White is not turning puzzleboard letters as the longtime co-host of "Wheel of Fortune" and "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune," the TV and fashion icon enjoys spending time with her family, including her new husband.
On Jan. 21, White revealed that she and her longtime love John Donaldson are married, writing on Instagram, "We’re excited to share this new joyful chapter in our lives with all of you!"
White is also a mom of two children, daughter Giovanna 'Gigi' Santo Pietro and son Nicholas 'Nikko' Santo Pietro.
White has been a co-host of "Wheel of Fortune" since 1982, now alongside fellow co-host Ryan Seacrest.
Below, get to know White and her family.
John Donaldson
White shared on Instagram that she and Donaldson decided to wed after being in a nearly 15-year relationship.
"Surprise! We got married! ❤️," White wrote in the caption of the post. "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."
White told People in 2019 that she and Donaldson, the founder of JDC Construction + Development Group, met in 2012 through a mutual friend.
"I remember looking at him and thinking, 'He's really cute,'" she said of their first meeting. "We ended up talking for a long time that night."
Describing their relationship, White told People, "It just works. He lets me be me, I let him be him. There is no drama."
White was formerly married to ex-husband George Santo Pietro, with whom she shares her two children, from 1990 to 2002.
Nicholas 'Nikko' Santo Pietro
White's eldest child, a son named Nicholas "Nikko" Santo Pietro, was born June 10, 1994.
White and her son took the internet by storm in 2024 with a cooking video in which they cooked up a family recipe, "Uncle Roy's Chicken."
The mother-son pair later appeared on "Good Morning America" and said they were stunned their video went viral.
"We did a very casual video for cooking week and it just blew up and got so much media attention over it," Santo Pietro said. "It was completely unexpected."
As a child, Santo Pietro appeared on his mom's game show alongside then-co-host Pat Sajak's daughter Maggie Sajak.
The two reminisced about their time on the show in an Instagram video shared in May 2023.
Today, Santo Pietro is a real estate agent with The Agency, a Los Angeles real estate brokerage.
In an Instagram post in May 2024, White shared a photo of her son posing next to an open house sign and applauded one of his professional milestones.
"Congratulations to my son for closing his first #homesale since becoming a real estate agent! So proud of you, @nikkoshow!" she wrote at the time.
Giovanna 'Gigi' Santo Pietro
Three years after welcoming son Nikko, White welcomed her younger child, daughter Giovanna "Gigi" Santo Pietro on July 1, 1997.
Gigi Santo Pietro now works as a tattoo artist for Lincoln Tattoo Company in Los Angeles.
When White co-hosted a "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" episode featuring Snoop Dogg, she said she earned "mom points" by introducing her daughter to the iconic rapper and TV personality.
"On 'Celebrity,' we had Snoop Dogg and my daughter, who is a huge fan of his -- I mean, she meets a lot of celebrities -- she goes, 'Mom! Can I meet him? Is there any way I can come and meet him? I would love to meet him.' So she did. I said, 'Come on over,'" White recalled to "Good Morning America." "She was so happy!"
