Pat Sajak isn't too heartbroken to be leaving “Wheel of Fortune” after hosting the game show for more than 40 years. Days before his final episode aired, Sajak said: “I'm surprisingly doing well.
“This was announced a long time ago, almost a year ago. So I’ve had time to get used to it,” the 77-year-old TV personality told her daughter Maggie Sajak in a recent interview.
The father-daughter duo reflected on Pat Sajak's “great” tenure and his impending end at “Wheel of Fortune” in a conversation published Monday by “Good Morning America.” “Gloomy” about his career, he will host his final episode of “Wheel” on Friday, when the game show concludes its 41st season.
Sajak announced his retirement last June, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that the current season would be his last. He began his tenure on “Wheel of Fortune” in 1981, succeeding original host Chuck Woolery.
“It has been a wonderful journey and I will have more to say in the coming months. Thank you all very much,” Sajak said in his June 2023 letter.
During his tenure, Sajak entertained generations of fans, inspired jokes from “Saturday Night Live” and “South Park” and generated numerous headlines about his behavior with contestants. He told his daughter, “We became part of popular culture…and, more importantly, we became part of people's lives.”
Less than a month after Sajak revealed his retirement, Ryan Seacrest announced that he will be stepping into the emcee's shoes. At the time, Seacrest praised his predecessor for the way he “always celebrated the contestants and made viewers feel at home.”
With a successor already named and co-host and letter-writer Vanna White set to stay on “Wheel of Fortune” for the next two years, Sajak said he hopes to have time for “my crossword puzzles” and my family. He could continue hosting the show if he wanted, but he told his daughter that he wanted to exit the series on her own terms.
“I'd rather leave a couple of years early than a couple of years late,” he said, adding, “I'm looking forward to whatever comes next.”
Maggie Sajak, the social correspondent for “Wheel of Fortune,” concluded the conversation by telling her father that “Wheel of Fortune” has been a “gift.” She also praised his lasting television legacy.
“They have turned what could have simply been The Hanged Man into a cultural phenomenon,” he said. “Thank you for these incredible 40+ years.”
The season 41 finale of “Wheel of Fortune,” titled “Thanks for the Memories,” airs Friday at 7:30 p.m. on KABC-7.
