Vanna White Recalls First Meeting Bob Barker With ‘Price Is Right’ Throwback
Vanna White joined people around the world on Sunday, remembering Bob Barker and his influence in the wake of his passing.
The 66-year-old Wheel of Fortune co-host shared a throwback photo on Instagram, taken sometime in 1980 when she was in her early 20s and had first moved to Los Angeles.
In the image, a young White acts as a contestant on The Price Is Right when Barker was still the host. She wrote about the experience in the caption, "When I moved to LA in 1980, I was on Price Is Right and met Bob Barker. Thank you Bob for introducing me to the game show world! We will miss you."
In the episode of the iconic game show, White didn't make it on stage, but she got to run down to Contestants' Row—a clip that many have seen in the years since. During the 1980 episode, White got to hear announcer Johnny Olsen say, "Vanna White, come on down!" as she took up her spot as one of the first four contestants.
Many fans enjoyed hearing about White's key memory of Barker, as one reply read, "We will miss him, a legend! So fun to see your beautiful picture from back then!! ????."
"Without a doubt you are the most famous contestant in Price Is Right history, and I would be willing to bet that Bob was proud of you for going on to becoming a game show legend in your own right," wrote another fan of both Barker and White.
"We lost a treasure ??," shared a third.
Two years after the clip initially aired, White nabbed her co-hosting job on Wheel of Fortune, a position she's held for over 40 years. Barker started hosting The Price Is Right in 1972, and he continued until his final episode in June 2007, following which Drew Carey took over as host.
Next: Bob Barker's Longtime Girlfriend Applauds His "Trailblazing" Animal Advocacy Following Death