Pat Sajak is nearly completed watching the wheel spin: The longtime Wheel of Fortune host introduced that he’s retiring from the syndicated recreation present subsequent season.
“Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last,” Sajak mentioned in an announcement obtained by Deadline. “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!”
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Sajak and longtime colleague Vanna White signed contract extensions in 2021 that take them by subsequent season. He has hosted Wheel of Fortune since 1981 and has received three Emmys for his work, not counting the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award he obtained from the TV Academy. He initially was recruited by creator Merv Griffin to take over for the outgoing Chuck Woolery, having already hosted two unscripted recreation pilots referred to as Press Your Luck and Puzzlers.
There was a time when Sajak did double obligation on the wheel; within the ’80s he hosted a daytime model on NBC and a syndicated model within the night. When the present hit its thirty sixth in 2018, Sajak grew to become the longest-running host of any recreation present, surpassing The Price Is Right‘s Bob Barker.
Last 12 months, Sajak was requested throughout an interview for Entertainment Tonight about when he’d like to go away the present that made him a star. “I’d like to leave before people tune in, look at me and say, ‘Ooh, what happened to him?’”
“I wouldn’t bet on seeing us in 10 years,” he mentioned of himself and White.
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“As the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat has entertained millions of viewers across America for 40 amazing years,” mentioned Suzanne Prete, EVP Game Shows at Sony Pictures Television. “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.”
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