Pat Sajak, the legendary host of “Wheel of Fortune,” has announced that he will retire after hosting the game show for a record-breaking 41 consecutive years, according to a statement made on Monday.
‘Wheel of Fortune’ host Pat Sajak will end
Sajak, 76, announced his decision to end his career next year on Twitter but provided no specific justification beyond the statement “the time has come.”
“I’ve made the decision that I’ll retire after our 41st season, which starts in September. I’ll have more to say in the upcoming months. It’s been a beautiful voyage, he wrote.
pat sajak will remain on to work as a consultant for at least three more seasons following his departure, according to Suzanne Prete, head of the game show division at Sony Pictures Television, the program’s production company.
She said, “We’re happy to have him staying close to the Wheel of Fortune family.
Vanna White, the glossy, always-smiling co-host, who has made a profession out of switching the letters on the show’s puzzle board for more than 40 years, received no comment regarding her future.
In May 2019, she and Sajak commemorated their 7,000th episode of the programme together. A few months later, when Sajak required urgent intestinal surgery, White briefly took over as host of the programme.
Sajak has been the host of the syndicated nightly edition of “Wheel of Fortune” since the show’s inception in September 1983, but he has a longer history with the game show than just that. Merv Gryphon, a late TV performer and producer, founded the show.
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Chuck Woolery served as the host of “Wheel of Fortune” when it debuted as an NBC network programme on daytime television in 1975. Sajak took his place in 1981 and managed the syndicated evening show beginning in 1983. He also continued to host the daytime programme until 1989.
He surpasses the 37 years Alex Trebek spent hosting “Jeopardy!” and the 35 years Bob Barker presided over “The Price is Right” on CBS as the longest-running host of any American TV game show.
“Wheel of Fortune” has the longest uninterrupted run of any syndicated U.S. game show, while “The Price is Right” has the record for the longest running game show on American television.
Another Merv Gryphon brainchild, “Jeopardy!,” debuted in 1964, but there was a long pause between its several syndicated and network iterations throughout time.
Sajak quit the NBC “Wheel” in the evening when his new CBS late-night chat show debuted. Sajak’s replacement on “Wheel” on NBC was Rolf Benirschke, who was then replaced by Bob Goen when the network programme shifted to CBS and then momentarily back to NBC.