Pat Sajak, the host of “Wheel of Fortune” for more than 40 years, announced his 2024 retirement on Monday.
“Well, the time has come,” Sajak wrote on Twitter. “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.”
He added the announcement will, if nothing else, “keep the clickbait sites busy.”
“Wheel of Fortune” has been a fixture in living rooms across America for generations, holding a special place at the heart of American pop culture. Sajak’s likeness has been featured in “South Park,” and Tom Hanks has played him in a “Wheel of Fortune”-inspired skit while hosting “Saturday Night Live.”
Merv Griffin launched the American game show gem in 1975 and Sajak, alongside co-host Vanna White, has been the face of the show for more than four decades. It is the second-most-watched show in syndication (behind “Jeopardy!”), averaging 8.3 million weekly viewers.
The show is celebrating its 40th anniversary this season, and in January, Steve LoCascio, president of CBS Media Ventures, announced it had been renewed for five more years.
“As the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat has entertained millions of viewers across America for 40 amazing years,” Suzanne Prete, a Sony executive vice president, said in a statement obtained by The Times. “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!”
The studio did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding longtime co-host Vanna White’s future with the show, or potential replacements for Sajak.
The announcement comes during a year that Sajak’s behavior has been repeatedly scrutinized online, with social media slamming the host for teasing a contestant with a fish phobia, mocking a white-bearded man as “Santa’s helper” and wrestling with another contestant by putting him in a hammerlock after he’d swept the competition.
