That Time Vanna White Crashed ‘Married with Children’ — and Almost Bought Al Bundy for $500,000
While Vanna White was America’s favorite letter-turner on Wheel of Fortune, she took a surprising detour from the game show stage to the small-screen sitcom world, making a 1993 scene-stealing cameo on Married… with Children that fans still talk about.
One of the hottest series of the ’80s and ’90s, Married… with Children was on for a record 11 seasons and became Fox’s longest-running sitcom to date. The series followed shoe salesman Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill) and his dysfunctional family, made up of his wife Peggy (Katey Sagal) and their children Kelly (Christina Applegate) and Bud (David Faustino). The series leaned into a crass dynamic, something White isn’t exactly known for. But joining the show worked, making her a game-changer in the Bundy family during the season 7 finale.
Who Did Vanna White Play in ‘Married… with Children’?
The season 7 finale of Married… with Children was aptly titled “The Proposition.” White played a successful, rich woman named Coco, who just so happens to be an old flame of Al’s.
She returns to town and shows up at the shoe store, where she informs Al that no man has satisfied her like he has, so he asks her to come to his house that night and repeat that to his family because they wouldn’t believe him.
Armed with a pizza like Al requested, she does just that and tells Peg and the kids that she still has the hots for Al. Adding that even though she thinks he’s a pig, she likes that about him. She explains that he is the one thing missing from her life and offers Peggy $500,000 to buy him from her.
Peggy and the kids mull over whether to sell Al to Coco, so they go ahead with it. At first, things seem swell, and Peg and the kids make plans to use the money to live in a swanky lakeshore condo. But as Peg’s packing her things, she admits to Al that she’s going to miss him, a sentiment he repeats before she leaves.
Coco joins him in the bedroom shortly after, dressed in a négligée, prepared to seduce him. But before anything can happen, Peg returns under the guise that she forgot something. That’s when she sees Al and Coco in bed together, so she decides to call the whole thing off.
It’s a sweet moment as we finally see that Al and Peggy really do love one another. Coco, on the other hand, may not have gotten Al in the end, but she tells Peggy that she’s going to instead purchase Ben and Jerry — not the ice cream, but the men themselves.
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Vanna White Made a Superb Guest Star on ‘Married… with Children’ 
White was deep into her fame on Wheel of Fortune when she guest-starred on Married… with Children, so fans of the sitcom already knew who she was, which made the episode even more fun.
We often see Al fantasize about modelesque-type women, such as White’s character, so for one of them to show unprompted interest in him, so much so that she’s willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on him, was a surprising turn of events. Of course, when actually faced with the opportunity, Al realizes just how much he cares for his wife and vice versa, but it’s still a hoot seeing it all play out. White is great in the role. She has a natural charm and beauty, so she was the perfect choice for the guest role.
Married… with Children isn’t White’s only time away from letter turning on Wheel of Fortune. White went on to guest star in other series, usually playing herself, like in Full House, where she appeared as herself in a dream DJ (Candace Cameron Bure) was having.
Married… with Children gave her a character of her own and let her have fun with the role, allowing her to stretch her acting muscles. It’s a fun change of pace from the usual Vanna gig, and it’s easily one of the most memorable episodes of the series. After all, how can anyone forget the episode where Al Bundy nearly wins the heart of Vanna White? Now, if only the show went full circle and sent the Bundys to play Wheel of Fortune.
