Since she first stepped onto the set of “Wheel of Fortune” in 1982, young and clad in a purple gown, Vanna White was an American institution.

Five years into White’s career, though, America gasped when the game show sweetheart, wearing only a long-sleeved shirt that exposed her bare behind, appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine. Inside was a spread showing a seminude White in various suggestive poses. On Wednesday, about a month after White turned 60, she discussed the moment with Fox News.

“I did something I shouldn’t have done,” she told the station.

She remembered “going on ‘Johnny Carson’ and saying, ‘I’m so sorry … I made a mistake, I’m sorry and I just hope I don’t lose my job over it.’”

Of course she didn’t lose her job, but the photos caused quite an uproar — and a few legal battles, too.