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“Wheel of Fortune” star Vanna White was left confused after social media users called her I am Nikko Santo Pietro a “thirst trap”.
Last month, White, 67, shared an Instagram video in which she and Santo Pietro were seen in the kitchen cooking a chicken dish. After fans used the slang phrase to describe the 30-year-old real estate agent, White seemed unfamiliar with the term’s meaning during Thursday’s episode of the long-running game show.
“I recently posted a video of me and my son, Nikko, cooking and it got a lot of responses,” the TV personality told her co-host Ryan Seacrest as the audience cheered.
Vanna White appeared confused when fans called her son Nikko Santo Pietro a “thirst trap”. (Getty/Vanna White Instagram)
“I don’t understand,” White said with a shrug.
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“Kids are calling Nikko a thirst trap,” Seacrest, 50, is explained.
The “American Idol” host informed her that fans noticed that Santo Pietro was wearing a comfortable white T-shirt in the clip.
“Apparently, it was too tight — he went to Baby Gap to buy that shirt,” Seacrest joked. “It was very tight and they found it extremely beautiful and no one knows what you cooked.”
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“What did you actually do?” he asked the White.
“We cooked Uncle Roy’s chicken,” White replied.
“Well, thank you Uncle Roy and thank you Nikko, for that tight shirt,” Seacrest said.
White continued to tease that she would post another video on Thursday.
“Oh boy!” Seacrest said.
“What will it be?” White said sheepishly, and Seacrest replied, “We’ll find out soon enough.”
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of Author of Vanna Speaks. later shared another video of her cooking with Santo Pietro, which was met with a similarly enthusiastic response from her followers.
After White uploaded the first cooking video in December, fans quickly took to the comments section to dig up her “handsome” son and ask about his relationship status.
“Vana where did you hide Nikko? He’s awesome,” one person wrote.
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Another commented, “Your son is hot!!!”
“He’s adorable!” added one Instagram user.
Fans went wild over Santo Pietro when he appeared in one of his mother’s Instagram videos. (Vanna White Instagram)
In an interview with fun tonight Nikko said the attention was “flattering”.
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“Obviously, I got a buzz from her fans, just being really nice and saying all kinds of cool things in the comments,” he said.
Santo Pietro, who works at The Agency, the real estate company owned by Mauricio Umansky, the ex-husband of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star. Kyle Richards, added, “I’ve always loved being in front of the camera and I work a lot on my social media. It’s a big part of what I do, so it feels natural and good.”
White shares Santo Pietro and daughter Gigi with her ex-husband, restaurant owner George Santo Pietro. (Vanna White Instagram)
However, Santo Pietro was adamant that the praise was not going to his head.
“People see me as this heartbreaker and they’re rooting for me and all this stuff. I love it all, but at the same time, it’s great to remember the meaningful things in life and just give it back, doing a lot of charity work, working hard every day,” he told the media.
“This is for me,” continued Santo Pietro. “Making an impact.”
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White added, “He’s such a good kid!”
She continued, “I’ve always taught both of my kids, you have to work hard to get things, it’s not just handed to you. And he’s doing it.”
Besides Santo Pietro, White shares daughter, Gigi, with her ex-husband, restaurant owner George Santo Pietro.
Santo Pietro said he was “flattered” by the attention. (Vanna White Instagram)
While some fans had expressed their hopes of finding love with Santo Pietro or setting him up with their daughters, he confirmed that he was already in a relationship.
“I have an amazing boyfriend,” he told ET. “She’s an absolute sweetheart. She’s a songwriter. We’ve been together for a year. She wrote a song for me. It’s really sweet that she did that.
He added that his girlfriend, Easae, who wrote the song to be titled “Karaoke”, “obviously discovered the heartbreak before America did.”
White confirmed that she approved of Easae, saying, “She’s so sweet, she’s really, down to earth, loving, giving.”
Nikko’s viral attention is also sparking a few more TV appearances.
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“I would love that,” White said when asked if fans could expect to see Santo Pietro on “Wheel of Fortune.” She noted that the daughter of her former co-host Pat Sajak, Maggie Sayakhas appeared numerous times on the show, including filling in for White as she took over for Sajak as host in 2020 when he underwent surgery. Maggie has also worked as the show’s social media correspondent since 2021.
“I don’t know how well I would play the game, but I would like to participate at some level,” Nikko added.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Stanton contributed to this report.
