Wheel of Fortune Host Pat Sajak to Retire in 2024

Pat Sajak, the longtime host of Wheel of Fortune is retiring next year in 2024. Sajak has hosted the game show for 40 years.

Sajak announced his retirement in a tweet on Monday, June 12, 2023. “Well, the time has come. 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…”

Wheel of Fortune is a game show in which contests attempt to solve word puzzles with only a few letters as clues, while spinning the wheel to gain money with correct guesses of missing letters. Sajak, who is now 76 years old, and Vanna White became the co-hosts of the popular primetime game show in 1983 and have remained a team since then.

The show draws 26 million viewers each week and has become a recognizable part of American pop culture. They have theme specials, travel to exotic locales for tapings, there have been spinoffs like Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, video games, and tie-in merchandise.

One of the ways that Wheel of Fortune has set itself apart from other long-running game shows is the lengthy run of Sajak and White as the hosts. Sajak won three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1993, 1997, and 1998, and was nominated another 18 times. He was given the Emmy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

Sajak did not state who will replace him on the series and the game show’s producer and distribution studio, Sony Pictures Television, has not made an announcement either.

In a statement, Sony Pictures Television Executive Vice President Suzanne Prete said that they are “incredibly grateful and proud to have had Pat as our host for all these years.” She also said, “We look forward to celebrating his outstanding career throughout the upcoming season.”