‘Wheel of Fortune’ host Pat Sajak assumed Vanna White would retire with him: ‘It would be odd’ otherwise
Bye, bye Pat.
Pat Sajak assumed that he and Vanna White would retire together, but that won’t be the case when he takes his final bow on “Wheel of Fortune” when his last episode airs on Friday.
Back in 2019, Sajak predicted that he and the famed letter-turner, 67, would walk off the ABC stage together.
“There’s a pretty good chance that when one of us leaves, we’ll both leave, because it would be odd for either of us to work with somebody else,” he said, per USA Today. “I always say that I want to leave while the show is still popular and before people tune in and say, ‘Ooh, what happened to him?'”
“I’m not quite there yet, but I don’t know,” he added at the time. “Let’s put it this way, 20 years from now, we won’t be here.”
In 2021, he’d note that they were “much closer to the end than we are to the beginning.”
Sajak first started on the popular game show in 1981 (in the daytime version), as well as the syndicated version of the show, which began in 1983. He’d go on to officially announce his retirement in June 2023.
“Well, the time has come,” he tweeted. “I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last.”
He added, “It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it’ll keep the clickbait sites busy!)”
White said she was “happy” for him and his decision. “I can’t imagine doing the show without him after 41 years,” she noted.
Ryan Seacrest will replace him when Season 42 kicks off in Fall 2024 — and White is staying on. Shortly after Sajak’s announcement, she struck a deal to extend her contract through 2026. According to TMZ, she got a “substantial pay increase.”
Seacrest, for his part, has praised both Sajak and White.
“Pat is a legend, but coming in there and giving a lot of money to these contestants really is the best part of the whole thing,” the “American Idol” host, 49, told “Good Morning America” in September 2023. “I’m shouting out the puzzles and my dog is staring at me. I’m also practicing the hosting part in my living room just to make sure I have the rules down.”
“Vanna has been such a staple on that show and in our living rooms for so many years,” he added to Today that same month. “I have been very excited to work with her, but now that it’s official I can say, ‘Congratulations Vanna! I can’t wait.’ … She’s beloved by this country and by the viewers and I can’t even imagine standing next to her on that set being able to say, ‘Okay, let’s get to it.’ It’s great news. I’m very, very happy to hear it and very happy I’ll be able to work with her.”
Sajak’s final episode (which is also the Season 41 finale) airs Friday, June 7 on ABC.
