From Left: Vanna White and John Donaldson in June 2017.Credit :
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Vanna White couldn’t be any happier with boyfriend John Donaldson.
In an interview with E! News, the Wheel of Fortune co-host opened up about her romance with Donaldson and spoke about the possibility of marriage.
“We’re very happy,” White, 68, said. “We’ve been together for a long time, and we are just happy the way it is.”
She continued, “Maybe people want to see us get married. When you’ve been with someone for so long, you kind of feel like you’re already married. You don’t have to have that piece of paper.”
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White and Donaldson started dating in 2012, 10 years after her divorce to restaurateur George Santo Pietro, 78, with whom she shares two children — Nicholas Pietro, 31, and Giovanna Pietro, 28. Over the course of their decade-long romance, White noted they never felt the need to tie the knot.
In a 2023 interview with PEOPLE, White said, “Do we have to get married? No, because we feel comfortable in our relationship. You know what I mean? I know that he’s the one. He knows I’m the one.”
“We don’t really talk about it, but you never know,” she added. “I mean, I guess we could, but in my eyes and his eyes, we are married.”
The couple first met when one of White’s friends brought Donaldson to one of her barbecues and have been together ever since. “I remember looking at him and thinking, ‘He’s really cute,’” White recalled to PEOPLE. “We ended up talking for a long time that night.”
She added, “It just works. He lets me be me, I let him be him. There is no drama.”
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As the holidays approach, the couple is getting ready to go on an island getaway. White told E! that they always go to Hawaii for Christmas. “It’s warm and tropical, and it’s a good way to get away from a big city,” she said.
When it comes to their holiday traditions, White said that she takes charge of wrapping the gifts, and “on Christmas Eve, we get to open one gift, and then we have to wait for Christmas Day to open the rest of them.”
White added, “Christmas is special for everyone, especially for family and I don’t care what age you are, it’s fun.”