Pat Sajak Retires From ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ After 41 Seasons
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak’s tenure is coming to an end. following the 76-year-old television personality’s Monday announcement that he will stop acting after the forthcoming 41st season of the program, which starts production in September.
“Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last,” he shared on Twitter. “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!).”
Sajak’s impending retirement was also confirmed by Suzanne Prete, the EVP of Game Shows at Sony Pictures Television, in a statement to PEOPLE. However, she added that he would continue to consult on the show for the following three years.
“As the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat has entertained millions of viewers across America for 40 amazing years,” Prete said. “We are incredibly grateful and proud to have had Pat as our host for all these years and we look forward to celebrating his outstanding career throughout the upcoming season. Pat has agreed to continue as a consultant on the show for three years following his last year hosting, so we’re thrilled to have him remaining close to the Wheel of Fortune family!”
In 1981, Sajak started presenting Wheel of Fortune. He made a possible retirement allusion in September 2022 when he stated that he will probably depart the series before it was cancelled.
“In most television shows by this time, you would have said, ‘That’s probably enough,’ but this show will not die,” Sajak told Entertainment Tonight.
“It appears I may go before the show,” he added.
Sajak, who hosts alongside Vanna White, spoke of his television tenure and the idea that nothing is meant to last forever. “Years go by fast,” Sajak said. “We’re getting near the end. It’s been a long [time]. We’re not gonna do this for another 40 years. The end is near.”
As for White, she told PEOPLE in December she wasn’t ready to think about leaving Wheel of Fortune behind.
“I don’t even want to think about that. I mean, we’re a team,” she said at the time. “That’s depressing. I don’t even want to think about it.”
White added that “it is” hard to imagine a world where neither herself nor Sajak is hosting the series. “I just visualize us just being there. I can’t think beyond that,” she shared.
But White also has “no idea” whether the show will continue without them, adding, “I can’t imagine. Everybody relates Wheel of Fortune to Pat and Vanna. We’re like Ken and Barbie, you know? We’ve been in everybody’s homes for 40 years, so it would be weird having somebody else turn my letters.”
