Sajak has been hosting the game show since 1981.
WASHINGTON — Longtime “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak is closing a chapter this week as he says goodbye to the game show after more than four decades.
Sajak’s final show will air on Friday, June 7, marking the end of the host’s farewell season.
The game show host announced in June 2023 that Season 41, which ends Friday, will be his last. The farewell episode was taped on April 5.
“It’s been an amazing ride, and I’ll have a lot more to say in the coming months,” Sajak said in a statement at the time. “Thank you so much to everyone.”
Sajak, 77, has presided over the game show, in which contestants must guess letters to fill in words and phrases in order to win money and prizes, since 1981. He took over from Chuck Woolery, who was the first host when the show debuted in 1975.
Sajak has won three Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding game show host and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 alongside “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek.
Is Vanna White leaving ‘Wheel of Fortune’?
Sajak’s longtime co-host Vanna White, who joined the syndicated show in 1982, will continue in her role on the game show until at least 2026.
A few months after Sajak’s retirement announcement, it was confirmed that White had extended her contract for two more years. She will remain on the wordplay game show until the 2025-2026 season.
In an interview with People magazine last October, White revealed she was considering leaving the show with Sajak.
“It’s like, ‘OK, wait, if you’re leaving, what am I going to do? How am I going to live without you?’ That was a very hard decision for me to make, because it definitely crossed my mind,” White told the outlet. “It’s like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this without you,’ but I thought about it and I’m not ready to retire, so I’m staying here.”
Who Is Replacing Pat Sajak On ‘Wheel Of Fortune’?
Following Sajak’s departure, White and Ryan Seacrest will take over the helm of the popular syndicated game show.
Sony Pictures Television announced last year that Seacrest had signed a multiyear deal to host the long-running game show, beginning with Season 42, which airs this fall.
“I am truly grateful to have followed in the footsteps of the great Pat Sajak,” Seacrest said in a statement at the time. “I can say, like the rest of America, that it has been a privilege and pure joy to watch Pat and Vanna on our television screens for an unprecedented 40 years, making us smile and feel at home with them every night.”
The show is recorded in Southern California, where Seacrest also hosts a popular nationally syndicated morning drivetime radio show. In February 2023, Seacrest announced he would leave the New York-based TV morning show “Live with Kelly and Ryan” after six years. Kelly Ripa now hosts that show with her husband, Mark Consuelos.
“Wheel of Fortune” remains one of the most popular programs on network television, averaging millions of viewers daily and maintaining an ardent fan base.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
