Are Pat Sajak and Vanna White finally ready to say adieu to “Wheel of Fortune”?
The longtime game show hosting duo had something to say about the future of their partnership. Sajak, 74, and White, 64, revealed to “Entertainment Tonight” how long they plan to stay on the air together.
“We’re certainly closer to the end than the beginning,” Sajak admitted. “I’d like to leave before people tune in and look at me and say, ‘Ooh, what happened to him?'”
“I wouldn’t bet on seeing us in, like, 10 years, I would say,” Sajak continued, before asking his letter-turner, “Is that fair [to say]?”
“Probably, yes,” White chimed in. “We’ve been together for like 38 years and he’s like my brother,” she said. “He’s funny. I mean, we could finish each other’s sentences if we wanted to. We know each other that well.”
Pat Sajak on the “Wheel of Fortune” setABC via Getty Images“Wheel of Fortune” returned for its 39th season on Sept. 13. Sajak also came on as a consulting producer.
His 26-year-old daughter, Maggie, joined the show as part of the digital team as a social correspondent. She’s shooting behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with the show’s staff and contestants then sharing them on the show’s social media channels.
The daddy-daughter duo explained the show’s recent change in format during an episode earlier this month. Sajak will no longer be doing the “Final Spin” segment of the show, and it’s now the contestant’s job to spin the wheel.
“The reason is, honestly, I’ve never liked the idea of imposing the host on the game. That always bothered me a little bit. We finally got to talking. We said, ‘Look, someone’s spinning the wheel anyway. We’ll save time. We’ll just let them spin it, whoever’s turn it happens to be.’ So the final spin, at least as far as the host is concerned, is gone, but the final spin remains. I’m just not doing it,” he said.
