<P> Sajak hosted the daytime series until January 9, 1989, when he left to host a late - night talk show for CBS . Rolf Benirschke, a former placekicker in the National Football League, was chosen as his replacement and hosted for a little more than five months . Benirschke's term as host came to an end due to NBC's cancellation of the daytime Wheel after fourteen years, with its final episode airing on June 30, 1989 . When the newly formatted daytime series returned on CBS on July 17, 1989, Bob Goen became its host . The daytime program continued for a year and a half on CBS, then returned to NBC on January 14, 1991 and continued until September 20, 1991 when it was cancelled for a second and final time . </P> <P> Susan Stafford was the original hostess, serving in that role from the premiere until October 1982 . Stafford was absent for two extended periods, once in 1977 after fracturing two vertebrae in her back and once in 1979 after an automobile accident . During these two extended absences, former Miss USA Summer Bartholomew was Stafford's most frequent substitute, with model Cynthia Washington and comedian Arte Johnson also filling in for Stafford . </P> <P> After Stafford left to become a humanitarian worker, over two hundred applicants signed up for a nationwide search to be her replacement . Griffin eventually narrowed the list to three finalists, which consisted of Summer Bartholomew, former Playboy centerfold Vicki McCarty, and Vanna White . Griffin gave each of the three women an opportunity to win the job by putting them in a rotation for several weeks after Stafford's departure . In December 1982, Griffin named White as Stafford's successor, saying that he felt she was capable of activating the puzzle board letters (which is the primary role of the Wheel hostess) better than anyone else who had auditioned . White became highly popular among the young female demographic, and also gained a fanbase of adults interested in her daily wardrobe, in a phenomenon that has been referred to as "Vannamania". White remained on the daytime series for the rest of the time it was on the air . </P> <P> Sajak and White have starred on the syndicated version continuously as host and hostess, respectively, since it began, except for very limited occasions . During two weeks in January 1991, Tricia Gist, the girlfriend and future wife of Griffin's son Tony, filled in for White when she and her new husband, restaurateur George San Pietro, were honeymooning . Gist returned for the week of episodes airing March 11 through 15, 1991, because White had a cold at the time of taping . On an episode in November 1996, when Sajak proved unable to host the bonus round segment because of laryngitis, he and White traded places for that segment . On the March 4, 1997 episode, Rosie O'Donnell co-hosted the third round with White after O'Donnell's name was used in a puzzle . </P>

Who has been host of wheel of fortune