Vanna White’s Brother Shares How Previous Drug Problem Made Him ‘Unemployable’

When Vanna White was on top of the world, being the letter-turner on Wheel of Fortune, her brother, Chip, was dealing with drug addiction and struggling to find work because of it.

Vanna recently appeared on Chip’s podcast, Relatively Famous. She flipped the script on him and became the interviewer to ask him about his life instead. On November 10, Vanna shared what happened as her brother recounted his drug problem.

“For my brother’s Relatively Famous Podcast, we turned the tables, and I got to take over the microphone and interview HIM! We had so much fun talking about what it was like growing up together, our family, and what it’s really like being Vanna White’s brother!” she wrote on Instagram, along with a picture of her and Chip.

Growing up, the siblings shared that despite being only three years apart, they weren’t super close, but they also never argued with each other. “Mom would yell at me because I was a brat and a jerk,” Chip said. “And would make you cry.”

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“Well, a lot of that was pretend because I am a good actor,” Vanna admitted, at which point Chip laughed.

While they had a wonderful childhood, things took a turn. Chip graduated high school in 1978 and worked as a clothing consultant at a retail store and a DJ. He dropped out of college to continue his DJ career.

Their mom died in 1980, and they decided to move from South Carolina to California in the early ’80s. He then moved back to South Carolina when he struggled, and after Vanna’s then-fiancé, John Gibson, died in a plane crash in 1986.

However, he shared that he was a “horrible brother” because he then decided to move back to California when Vanna needed him. Vanna said that he was not and that he needed to explain.

“I was knee-deep into doing blow and drugs,” Chip said. “You were so sweet, and you should have fired me.” He worked alongside Vanna on her management team.

When he moved away, he went to work at King World, which distributed Wheel of Fortune at the time. “They should have fired me at the time, but they didn’t because I was Vanna’s brother,” Chip laughed.

“I regret the opportunities that I was given that I didn’t learn from,” he said.

Chip got sober in Los Angeles while he worked at VH-1, MTV, Discovery Channel, a limo driver, and a freelancer. “I became unemployable. I was freelancing after our son was born. S**t hit the fan, and that’s when I joined the 12-step program,” he said, sharing that he began it in September 2002. He told his dad that he had a cocaine problem, and he helped Chip get sober.

According to Get Creative San Antonio, Chip worked as a filmmaker and producer for more than 30 years. Along with the above-mentioned, he worked for Sony, Fox Sports, SPEED, Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola, and Duke Energy. Chip also produced short films, indie films, and feature films under INSP.

“Was there one specific thing that triggered that?” Vanna asked.

“No, Everything had just gotten to that point. I just wanted to quit doing cocaine. I didn’t want to get sober, but it doesn’t work that way,” Chip said.

“I’m so proud of you. It takes a lot of courage and strength to stay that way,” Vanna said.

Chip and his family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, after he got sober for 17 years. Currently, they reside in San Antonio, Texas. Chip shared that he is fine now and is completely sober.

Vanna and Chip also have half-siblings, Chris, Joe, Dawn, PK, Hope, and Ingrid, according to a 2016 Facebook post.