Not everyone gets to have the privilege (or otherwise) of working with the same person for four whole decades, but Vanna White shared that hallmark with her former Wheel of Fortune cohort Pat Sajak, who retired from hosting the syndicated show in 2024. Thankfully, she’s handled replacement host Ryan Seacrest’s arrival in with aplomb, but she knows some fans weren’t happy, and some still haven’t fully adjusted to a show without Sajak.
But he’s not entirely gone from either her life or from viewers’ televisions. (He’ll still be back for Celebrity WoF Season 3, assuming that lands on the 2025 TV schedule at some point.) She even addressed their most recent meet-up while appearing as a guest on the Elvis Duran Show. Here’s how she put it:
Of course [it’s an adjustment], not just for me, but for everyone who watches. Pat decided to retire. I saw him a few weeks ago. He looks happy. He looks great. Ryan took over, and he’s doing a great job. He told me, ‘No one could ever replace Pat Sajak. I’m just here to fill in.’
For the most part, Pat Sajak has stayed out of the spotlight in the time since he officially called it quits and delivered his emotional final episode address to viewers. But after seeing each other on a regular basis for so many years, with White confirming they are still filming 6 episodes a day for the current season’s cycle, it would almost be weird and unsettling if White and Sajak went for an extended period without crossing paths. (Though maybe not, since the total amount of annual days filming is around 34.)
I also say all that as someone who has barely kept in touch with the vast majority of my former coworkers, and if there was a round where the category was “What Are You Doing?” and the finished puzzle was “Avoiding Communication With People I Used To See All The Time,” I would probably solve it pretty quickly. But those kinships were definitely more short-lived than Vanna’s Wheel of Fortune career.
It’s unclear where exactly White touched base with Sajak again, but it’s good to hear that he’s looking well. Fans were quite worried about the longtime host when he had to have an emergency surgery in 2019, with a handful of other potentially worrisome moments cropping up in the years after.
Vanna White Answers A Question I’ve Always Wondered About
By and large, Vanna White has always come across as one of the nicest and least judgmental people on TV, not that she constantly has the opportunity to speak her mind while presenting on Wheel. But she further proved that distinction to be true when one of the radio show’s co-hosts asked how she managed to avoid laughing at contestants when they make all-time horrible guesses. Without a lick of sardonic irony on her face, she answered with:
Look, I feel for them. I do. I mean, we’re in the public eye, right? So we know about all that. But they’re from a small town, and they’ve never been to Hollywood. And they’re nervous to begin with. . . . I just go, ‘Darn, I wish they would have gotten that.’
She’s a better person than most of us, I think. There are probably some people out there who would laugh so hard at a wrong guess that they’d lose their job on the spot and have to be escorted out.
Wheel of Fortune airs weeknights in syndication, with Ryan Seacrest still waiting for somebody to win that $1 million prize.