Here's How Much Jeannie Mai Is Really Worth
Is she an unrepentant vowel-buyer, or a superplayer who can guess a 10-word puzzle with only two Ts and a W showing on the board? Viewers will soon find out when Jeannie Mai appears on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. Her episode — airing Jan. 21, 2021 (and re-running on the 23rd, per Disney Entertainment) — will pit her against SNL's Rob Riggle and Unreal's Joe Tessitore.
The celeb version of everyone's favorite game of Hangman began running earlier this month, and in a first for the show, it's airing in primetime. Host Pat Sajak recently admitted to ABC7 that unlike regular folks, who have to pass a battery of tests to get on the show, "our celebrities are picked based on their celebrityhood more than anything else."
This marks a triumphant competition comeback for Mai, the makeup artist-turned-cohost of The Real. She had been going strong on last fall's Dancing With the Stars when she suddenly developed a life-threatening case of epiglottis that sent her off the dance floor and into the hospital (per People).
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune players are guaranteed to come away with at least $30,000 (via Laughing Place), so even if Mai doesn't land on the coveted $1 million card, she'll still be able to donate a nice chunk of change to the charity, No Kid Hungry. It's long been a tradition on celeb versions of game shows for players to select a worthy organization to receive their winnings, since it's assumed they don't really need the cash themselves. Mai is certainly no exception.
Jeannie Mai receives income from a number of sources
Jeannie Mai began her career as a makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics, working on a variety of A-list clients (per BET). She went on to host entertainment shows on local channels and smaller cable networks before landing bigger gigs as a correspondent for programs such as The Biggest Loser, Extra TV, and the Miss Universe pageant. Then in 2013, she was offered a spot on The Real, a talk show notable for its diverse set of hosts. According to Showbiz CheatSheet, Tamera Mowry-Housley earns the biggest paycheck of the group, with the rest bringing in somewhere between $200,000 and $950,000 annually.
However, Mai has other sources of income, including her Hello Hunnay YouTube channel and its merch; her work as a brand ambassador for such companies as Straight Talk and Fabletics; and her appearance on DWTS, whose contestants earn a minimum of $125,000 for starters, and more for each week that they remain in the running for the mirrorball trophy (via Variety). Her assets also include the $1.2 million home she was awarded in her divorce from first husband Freddy Harteis (via The Blast).
All that combines to put the celeb stylist's net worth at somewhere between $2 and $4 million (per CheatSheet and Celebrity Net Worth). In other words, Jeannie Mai can afford to buy all the vowels she likes, thank you very much.