Staff
The Wheel of Fortune star’s son, Nikko Santo Pietro — who went viral after he appeared in a cooking video with his mom — weighed in on being the latest internet “heartthrob,” and the “thirsty” and “interesting” comments.
Vanna White’s son is sharing his thoughts on the outpouring of love from fans after his appearance in one of his mom’s recent videos went viral.
Earlier this week, White posted a video on Instagram that featured herself cooking with her son Nikko Santo Pietro (below), and the comments section was quickly flooded with the Wheel of Fortune star’s fans gushing over her “handsome” offspring.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight alongside his mom, Santo Pietro, 30, reacted to the praise and “thirsty” comments, calling it “flattering.”
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“Obviously, I’ve had an outpour from her fans just really being kind and saying all kinds of interesting stuff in the comments,” said Santo Pietro said, a real estate agent, who posts related content on his social media. “I’ve always loved being in front of the camera, and I work really hard on my social media that’s a big part of what I do, so it feels natural and good.”
“People see me as this heartthrob and they’re thirsty for me and all this stuff,” he continued. “I love it all, but at the same time, it’s really good to remember the meaningful things in life and just kind of dial it back, doing a lot of charity work, working hard every day. That’s what it is to me. Making an impact.”
White, 67, who welcomed Santo Pietro during her marriage to ex-husband George Santo Pietro, reacted to her son’s response, sharing that she loves that her son is grounded.
“I absolutely love that,” she said. “It touches my heart so much. He’s such a good kid. … It makes me feel good. Growing up, he didn’t get everything he asked for. I always taught both of my children that you have to work hard for things.”
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Meanwhile, Santo Pietro also answered a question that many commenters wanted to know: is he taken?
“I have an amazing girlfriend,” he said. “She’s an absolute sweetheart. She’s a singer-songwriter. We’ve been together for a year.”
Santo Pietro added that his girlfriend, who is named Easae, even wrote a song about him, called “Karaoke.”
“It’s really sweet that she did that,” he shared, before joking that his girlfriend “obviously detected the heartthrob thing before America did.”
Elsewhere during the interview, White — who has been a cohost of Wheel of Fortune since 1982 — and her son shared their thoughts on Santo Pietro making a guest appearance on the game show in the future.
“I would love that. I’m going to ask!” White said. “Why not?”
Santo Pietro added that he’d be interested in popping up on the show as well.
“I don’t know how well I’d play the game, but I’d love to participate at some level,” he said. “I don’t know how what that would look like. I could see that happening.”
