Vanna White and Ryan Seacrest
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for CBS Media Ventures/Sony Pictures TelevisionVanna Blanca You have already adapted to a routine with new Wheel of fortune host Ryan Seacrestbut was initially concerned about how they would fit into the long-running game show.
“I had no idea what to expect when I'm used to one person for so long,” White, 67, said during an interview on Sunday, Sept. 1. Interview in CBS Sunday Mornings“I was very scared, but he is doing a great job.”
The TV icon went on to note that she and Seacrest, 49, met “probably 20 years ago,” but have grown closer since he was announced as Pat SajakLast year's replacement.
“Over the last few months, we’ve been traveling together for the show and we’ve gotten to know each other a little bit better, so I think our chemistry is good,” White explained.
Wheel of Fortune has entertained countless viewers since its original premiere in 1975, but with time comes the mistakes. Since its inception, the game show has featured contestants solving word puzzles to win money and other prizes. Pat Sajak has hosted the show since 1981, earning 19 Daytime Emmy nominations and […]
Sajak, 77, announced his retirement from Wheel of fortune in June 2023 after more than 40 years as host. “Well, the time has come,” he said in a statement at the time. “I have decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be our last. It has been a wonderful journey and I will have more to say in the coming months. Thank you all so much.”
Vanna White and Pat Sajak
Carol Kaelson/CBSThat same month, Sony Pictures Television, which produces the game show, announced that Seacrest would take the reins from Sajak in 2024.
“I am truly honored to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak,” Seacrest said in a statement at the time. “I can say, along with the rest of America, that it has been a privilege and a pure joy to watch Pat and Vanna on our television screens for an unprecedented 40 years, making us smile every night and feel right at home with them. Pat, I love the way you have always celebrated the contestants and made viewers at home feel at ease. I look forward to learning as much as I can from you during this transition.”
Pat Sajak and Vanna White have always been the ultimate example of co-host chemistry, but their fates on Wheel of Fortune could have been very different. “I didn’t recommend Vanna, and Vanna knows that,” Sajak told CBS Sunday Morning in 2020 while reflecting on White’s audition nearly four decades earlier. “It’s not that she wasn’t charming.” […]
Sajak hosted his final show on June 7, after filming more than 8,000 episodes. At the end of his final episode, the host gave an emotional speech about his time on the series.
“Well, the time has come to say goodbye. I have a few thanks and acknowledgements before I go. And I want to start with all of you out there watching,” he told the audience and viewers at home. “It’s been an incredible privilege to be invited into millions of homes night after night, year after year, decade after decade. And I’ve always felt that privilege came with a responsibility to keep this daily half-hour a safe place for family fun. No social issues, no politics, nothing embarrassing, I hope. Just a game.”
Seacrest's first episode will air on Monday, September 9.
“This is an incredible and special franchise,” he said in CBS Sunday Mornings“It’s more than just a TV show. It’s something that means something to people. And when I found out that this was an opportunity for me, I didn’t think about it. I thought, ‘Absolutely, let’s figure it out and let’s get started. ’”