Farewells are in order for the one and only Pat Sajak. After four decades of co-hosting the household game show, you may be wondering Why is Pat Sajak leaving Wheel of Fortune? Well, we found the real reason reason the longtime host is retiring after Season 41 and it may surprise you.
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Wheel of Fortune is ABC’s popular game show that’s been on the air continuously since January 1975. In the hangman-based competition created by Merv Griffin, contestants can spin the giant carnival wheel and call a consonant, buy a vowel for $250 or solve the puzzle. Each contestant is worth the cash value of what the wheel lands on. They can continue spinning the wheel until they miss a letter, spin a bankrupt or lose a turn. The million-dollar grand prize wedge was added to the wheel in 2008, allowing contestants the opportunity to become millionaires. (A few lucky contestants have won $1 million or more).
Prior to Sajak’s exit, Wheel of Fortune was hosted by Sajak and his co-host, Vanna White, who have led the nighttime version since its debut in 1983. After more than four years, Sajak announced his retirement as Wheel of Fortune’s host in 2023. His last episode aired on June 7, 2024. Ryan Seacrest, Sajak’s replacement, will take on the role with White in the fall of 2024.Why is Pat Sajak leaving Wheel of Fortune in the first place? We have the answer below.
Why is Pat Sajak leaving Wheel of Fortune?
Sajak announced that Season 41 of Wheel of Fortune would officially be his last in June 2023. “Well, the time has come,” Sajak said in a statement to Bloomberg Newsat the time. “I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all.”
Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. 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!)
— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) June 12, 2023
Sajak also shared the news on Twitter, where he received a flood of comments from fans who said they will miss the mainstay host. “Noooooo! That’s me selfishly screaming for you to stay! Of course you deserve an amazing retirement. Thank you for being a national treasure, sir!” one person wrote. Another Twitter user added: “Big part of my childhood with my family. Thanks for the many laughs and entertainment.”
As for why he left Wheel of Fortune, Sajak revealed in Good Morning America in June 2024 that he was retiring simply to relax in the later years of his life. (Sajak was 77 at the time of his exit.) “It’s been a little bit wistful and all that, but I’m enjoying it and taking it all in and reflecting on the great run,” he said. “Somewhere along the line, we became more than a popular show. We became part of the popular culture. And more importantly, we became part of people’s lives. And, that’s been awfully gratifying.” He continued, “This was announced a long time ago, almost a year ago. So I’ve had time to sort of get used to it.”
Sajak also explained that he’s always believed in “leaving a couple years too early than a couple of years too late.” As for what’s next, Sajak told GMA that he’s “looking forward to whatever’s ahead,” including as simple things as enjoying time with his family. “I’m perfectly happy if it just means that I’ll continue with my crossword puzzles and play with grandchildren. Hint hint hint. No pressure,” he said.
News also broke the week of Sajak’s last Wheel of Fortune episode that his first job following his retirement as the game show’s host will be a role in the play, Prescription: Murder, at Honolulu’s Hawaii Theatre from July 31 to August 10, 2025. He’ll str in the play with his longtime friend,Joe Moore, the KHON-TV Hawai’i newscaster and actor. In the production, Sajak will play psychiatrist Roy Flemming, who creates a “plot with a perfect alibi to murder his neurotic and possessive wife.” Moore, for his part, will play Lt. Columbo, “the seemingly bumbling detective who engages the psychiatrist in a cat-and-mouse battle of wits right up to the play’s surprising climax.”
For those who have been following Sajak’s interviews over the years, his exit isn’t a complete shock.In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in September 2022, Sajak said he was nearing the end of his time on the staple game show. “We’re not going to do this for another 40 years. The end is near,” he told the platform. “It’s an honor to have been in people’s living rooms for that long. People were out there welcoming us. We’re happy and proud.”
Rumors of Sajak’s exit intensified after he left mid-show on the April 26, 2023, episode of Wheel of Fortune. Pat Sajak was noticeably absent during the bonus round. The show’s announcer since 2011, Jim Thornton, took over the hosting duties (the episode’s contestant, Sarah, told Sajak that she was a big fan of Thornton). Fans were confused about where the longtime host went, and there was speculation that Sajak was sick or had gotten fired. “Where is Pat Sajak for the final puzzle? #WheelOfFortune,” one user asked on Twitter. Whileanother responded: “I’ve never seen it happen! Wild!” During the closing credits, he returned and asked Vanna White, “Did I miss anything?” She responded, “Not much, just the bonus round.”
His brief absence might have purely been a chance for Thornton to interact in a greater way with one of his fans. “Can’t help thinking this is Jim’s soft audition for #WheelOfFortune @patsajak job. And YES…..we are their focus group. Let ur opinions be known. My Dad spotted it right away and gives Jim a [thumbs up],” one Twitter user penned.
Who will replace Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune?
Wheel of Fortune officially named a replacement for Sajak a few weeks after the announcement. Ryan Seacrest will take over hosting duties from Sajak starting in Season 42, which is expected to premiere in the fall of 2024. “I’m truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak. I can say, along with the rest of America, that it’s been a privilege and pure joy to watch Pat and Vanna on our television screens for an unprecedented 40 years, making us smile every night and feel right at home with them,” the longtimeAmerican Idolhost wrote inanInstagramstatement on June 27, 2023.
Since we learned that Sajak was leavingWheel, Seacrest’s name had been floating around as a potential replacement for Sajak. Bloombergreporter Lucas Shawtweetedthat Ryan Seacrest has been “talking to the producers ofWheel of Fortune” to take over the hosting gig. “Some sources say he’s the frontrunner. Others say he is just one of many interested,” Shaw also said. Meanwhile, somefans are pushingthat Vanna White fully take over the program once Sajak retires. “Vanna White should be Wheel Of Fortune’s next host,” one user tweeted.
Other names on theWheel of Fortune hosting shortlistincluded Whoopi Goldberg, Sajak’s daughter Maggie Sajak, Andy Cohen and Mario Lopez. Ultimately, the show went with Seacrest.
Prior to his exit anoucnement, Sajak’s former, co-host, Vanna White, didn’t want to even think about the idea of either of them leaving Wheel of Fortune. “I just visualize us just being there. I can’t think beyond that… I can’t imagine. Everybody relates Wheel of Fortune to Pat and Vanna. We’re like Ken and Barbie, you know?” she toldPeoplein December 2022.“We’ve been in everybody’s homes for 40 years, so it would be weird having somebody else turn my letters.”
Pat Sajak’s quotes about hosting Wheel of Fortune
In an interview with Entertainment Tonightin September 2022, Sajak spoke about the long-running success of the game show. “In most television shows by this time, you would have said, ‘That’s probably enough,’ but this show will not die,” he said. “It appears I may go before the show,” Sajak jokingly said about the series, which he has hosted for 40 seasons. He won three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host and was nominated 19 times. He’s also been credited as a Consulting Producer of Wheel of Fortune since the start of Season 29 in 2020.
He also told Entertainment Weekly prior to the premiere of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune in 2021 about why the franchise has waited so long to launch a “celebrity” version of Wheel of Fortune. “Part of it is, we’ve always been careful about not getting the show overexposed. We’ve been on a very long time, and I don’t know how much Wheel is too much, but you don’t want to water the product down too much,” he explained. “And this seemed like the time to do it because of what’s going on in the world. Wheel of Fortune is kind of a sign of normalcy for people; they were very glad to have us back on the air. So this seemed like a good time to expand into prime time a little bit, at least one time, and extend that normalcy.”
Wheel of Fortuneairs on weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
For more on primetime shows, check out our photo gallery on thebest nighttime soaps ranked.
