'Wheel of Fortune' Honors Pat Sajak Ahead of Last Episode
CELEBRITY WHEEL OF FORTUNE - Melissa Joan Hart, Tituss Burgess and Lacey Chabert Hosted by pop-culture legends Pat Sajak and Vanna White, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune takes a star-studded spin on Americas Game?. Season two continues with an all-new episode SUNDAY, OCT. 17 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images) PAT SAJAK
Wheel of Fortune is paying special tribute to Pat Sajak as its longtime host prepares to leave the show after more than 40 years.
In one highlight reel shared on Instagram earlier this week, the show spotlighted some of the 77-year-old’s witty moments on air as he interacted with contestants over the years.
“Pat's got jokes — always has ??,” the Instagram video’s caption said.
The highlight reel began with an old clip of Sajak asking, “So, how long you been waiting to be a contestant on Wheel?” The video panned over to show that Sajak had posed the question to a skeleton wearing a Wheel of Fortune hat, a reveal that had the audience laughing.
Another clip showed Sajak standing beside a mother-daughter contestant duo. The clip didn’t include much context, instead cutting to Sajak explaining to the daughter, “The only reason I’m laughing is because your mother is patting my rear end!”
Subsequent clips showed Sajak teasing a clown-mortician contestant and a dog owner whose French bulldog attempted to get “involved in the skateboarding community.” He also joked with two contestants claiming to be in their DINK—dual income, no kids—era, explaining that he was instead in his LING—“large income, nearly gone”—time in life.
“You are so funny,” fellow Wheel host Vanna White told Sajak after the montage of throwback clips came to an end.
“Actually you’re the best audience, because I can get you giggling pretty quickly,” Sajak told her. He then explained to their audience that the show would resurface additional "amusing moments” in the weeks leading up to his final episode.
Sajak announced last year that he would be leaving Wheel of Fortune at the end of Season 41. That final episode, which has already been taped, is scheduled to air on Friday, June 7.
TV presenter and former American Idol host Ryan Seacrest is expected to step into Sajak’s role starting with Season 42.
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