GSN's own press release is
here. It calls Shandi a "great, fresh dollop of fun." I'm all for great, fresh dollops. But then I'm part of the creepy old guy demo.
I always got a kick out of the kvetching over the addition of a co-host on Lingo. That addition didn't affect the gameplay at all. It hardly affected anything at all because Stacey was on-camera so little. Chuck had some fun (innocent, I presume) with Stacey, and she smoothed out a few transitions and some bookkeeping Woolery would rather not bother with. But otherwise she was just an occasional glimpse of eye candy. Hardly worth discussing, though many managed the feat.
Sounds like the rules haven't changed at all, except for the 10K top prize. I do hope they keep the lengthened first round from the third season (five or six puzzles). That helps keep the scores closer.