Woman presenter who gave away $4 billion to lottery winners has retired
After 32 years giving away prizes worth $4 billion for the New York Lottery, draw team member Yolanda Vega has retired.
Presenter Yolanda, 66, famous for her trademark announcement “I’m Yoolaaaanda Vega!” on screen, also delivered the giant checks to delighted winners.
Vega traveled the state, presenting the checks that turned hundreds of New Yorkers into millionaires.
When she first hit the airwaves in February 1990, her distinctive delivery and unique style turned her into a lottery icon.
“Yolanda was the master of that,” New York State Gaming Commission spokesperson Brad Maione told the New York Post on Wednesday. “She defined the role.”
And Yolanda Vega, 66, said that her job was to make winners comfortable when they were handed the check in front of tv cameras.
There's an art to the woman many call 'The Lottery Queen,' and her people skills are what makes her excel at her job in making winners comfortable in front of the cameras.
“I find out how they feel about winning, what led up to the winning,” she told FOX40 in 2018. “I find out details about them and it makes them feel comfortable because they’re looking at me. Don’t look at the audience, don’t look at the camera, just talk to me.”
YOLANDA VEGA
According to the New York Lottery, the Red Hook, Brooklyn-born Vega excelled in math at John Jay High School in Park Slope.
She earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Hunter College in 1977, becoming the first member of her family to graduate from college.
“It’s the end of an era. There will never be another Yolanda Vega in the business,” Maione said.
“Her ebullient nature, coupled with playful personality made Yolanda a national icon. We will miss her presence.”
A collusion of caffeine and confidence led Vega to her signature sign-on, she told Binghamton Fox affiliate WICZ in 2018, reported the NY Post.
One day, six months into the job, she recalled, “I came in and I had drank a lot of Puerto Rican espresso and I was pumped up.”
“I said ‘with the New York Lottery I’m YOLAAANDA VEGAAAA.’ And they said ‘Woah, what are you doing?’ And I said ‘That’s who I am and I’m proud of who I am.’ ”