Vanna White is brokenhearted after being dumped by her much-younger boyfriend Stephen Samuels — because she didn’t want to have any more children.
The 46-year-old “Wheel of Fortune” letter-turner had dated Stephen, 33, for six months after a friend introduced them and he was Vanna’s “first serious romance after actor John Corbett chose Bo Derek over her,” a friend disclosed.
“Despite the 13-year age difference, they really clicked.”
And Stephen loved Vanna’s two children by her former husband George Santo Pietro — Nicholas, 9, and 6-year-old Giovanna.
“But it didn’t work out,” said the friend. “Stephen — who’s never been married — wanted to settle down and start a family of his own.
“But Vanna wasn’t willing to try to start a second family at this stage in her life.” A friend of Stephen — who’s a marketing director for a vodka company — revealed: “Stephen really was head over heels for Vanna, and she for him.
“Because he was young and energetic and got on so well with her kids, she found him very stimulating to be around.
“But then Stephen raised the subject of marriage and kids — and Vanna found herself at a crossroads.
“Stephen told me, ‘I really loved Vanna and I wanted this to work. But when she told me she didn’t want more kids, I knew it was over.’
“He said it broke Vanna’s heart when he told her goodbye.
“He says he misses her every day but knows he did the right thing.”
— PATRICIA TOWLE
