Key Takeaways
- Vanna White kept her first engagement ring, a colorful cocktail-style stone, as a meaningful reminder of her late fiancé.
- After her amicable divorce from George Santo Pietro, it’s likely White kept her oval-cut diamond ring for sentimental reasons or passed it to her children.
- White likely returned her round-cut diamond engagement ring to Michael Kaye after their relationship ended before marriage.
Vanna White, beloved co-host of Wheel of Fortune, has been romantically linked to contractor John Donaldson since 2012, and the two sparked engagement rumors last fall when White was spotted wearing a diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. The two haven't confirmed a relationship status change, but if they are engaged, this wouldn't be White's first time as someone's fiancée. In fact, the television personality has previously been engaged three times and married once.
White was engaged to soap opera star John Gibson in the '80s, and the pair were set to be married when the actor tragically died in a plane crash in 1986. "It was May 17, 1986," White told People in 2019. "The second I heard about it, I fell to my knees. It was just devastating." Four years later, White married restaurateur George Santo Pietro in 1990; her husband kept a relatively low profile, so there aren't too many details available about him, the engagement, or their wedding, but we do know that White began wearing what appears to be an oval-cut diamond ring after their nuptials.
After the two split in November of 2002, White was linked to businessman Michael Kaye. They were engaged from 2004 to 2006, and during that time, White was seen wearing a sizable round-cut diamond engagement ring on what appears to be a platinum or white gold band.
Key Takeaways
- Vanna White has been engaged three times.
- She was married to George Santo Pietro from 1990 until 2002. The couple had two children, Nicholas and Givoanna.
- The Wheel of Fortune co-host had been previously engaged to soap opera star John Gibson, who tragically died in a plane crash in 1986.
- She was also engaged from 2004 to 2006 to Michael Kaye, a businessman.
- Now, White is linked to contractor John Donaldson; the pair sparked engagement rumors last fall when she was spotted wearing an engagement ring
Ron Galella / Contributor / Getty Images
What Did Vanna White Do With Her Engagement Ring From John Gibson?
White was engaged to The Young and the Restless star John Gibson when he was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1986, People reports. Little is known about her engagement ring, but photos from the time period show White wearing what looks like a round- or oval-cut colorful stone on the fourth finger of her left hand. The ring appears to be a cocktail-style bauble.
When Gibson was flying a plane near Los Angeles' Van Nuys Airport on May 17, 1986, when it caught fire and crashed. Sadly, the pair never had a chance to make it down the aisle. White took a leave of absence from Wheel of Fortune after his passing, grieving the immense loss. Based on the relationship's sad ending, it seems likely that White held onto that unique ring as a reminder of Gibson; she was spotted wearing it later in 1986, but appeared to have taken it off for good in 1987.
Jeff Kravitz / Contributor / Getty Images
What Did Vanna White Do With Her Engagement Ring From George Santo Pietro?
Little is known about how White and Santo Pietro met. According to Yahoo, mutual friends introduced the pair sometime between 1986 and 1990 when the two tied the knot. According to the Los Angeles Times, White and Santos obtained a wedding license in Aspen, Colorado, on December 28, 1990, picking up their then-$20 marriage permit at the Pitkin County Courthouse. Though the exact date of their nuptials isn't known, it would stand to reason that the pair wed shortly after that point, as they cite the beginning of their marriage as 1990.
Over the course of their marriage, the pair shared good times and bad. In 1992, White announced on Wheel of Fortune that the pair were expecting their first child. Sadly, the TV host miscarried just days later, People reports. "I so wanted to be pregnant and have a baby, so then when I finally got pregnant, I wanted to tell the world immediately," she said. The two went on to have two children, Nicholas and Giovanna.
After 12 years of marriage, White and Santo Pietro decided to dissolve their marriage in 2002, a split that People describes as "amicable." So, what became of that round-cut engagement ring? Knowing that the two went their separate ways on good terms, it seems extremely plausible that the Wheel of Fortune co-host would have kept the ring as a reminder of the happy times she shared with her former husband. Alternatively, she or Santo Pietro may have kept the engagement ring for one of their two children: It's possible that they've given the ring to their son to present to a future spouse or to their daughter to wear herself one day.
One thing we can assume didn't happen to the ring from Santo Pietro? Given the way the marriage ended, it seems unlikely that White would have sold the bauble.
Frazer Harrison / Staff / Getty Images
What Did Vanna White Do With Her Engagement Ring From Michael Kaye?
Little is known about White's relationship with Kaye. Parade notes that the pair were engaged from 2004 to 2006, but they ultimately called off their union before walking down the aisle. What we do know is that White wore a round-cut diamond engagement ring during the years the pair were together—the stone appears to be at least two carats in size and set in a thin white gold or platinum band.
Where did that ring end up? Truthfully, your guess is as good as ours: It doesn't seem likely that White would have held onto the ring for her children, given that Kaye is not their father, and the relatively short length of the relationship doesn't make us think she'd keep it for herself, either. It's most likely that White returned the ring to Kaye after the relationship ended.
