Vanna White offered an update on her longtime Wheel of Fortune costar Pat Sajak following his departure from the game show in 2024.
“I talk to Pat all the time. He’s doing great. He’s healthy, he’s happy,” White, 68, said of Sajak, 78, on the Wednesday, April 2 episode of the “Holding Kourt” podcast. “I just had dinner with him about a month ago, so I just want to let everyone out here know he’s doing good.”
Sajak cohosted Wheel of Fortune for 43 years before retiring last June and has since been replaced by American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest. White signed a contract extension in 2023 that will keep her on Wheel of Fortune at least through the summer of 2026.
During her appearance on “Holding Kourt,” White reflected on the “big decision” she had to make about her future on Wheel of Fortune after learning of Sajak’s retirement.
“Am I going to stay? Do I go out with [Sajak] after 41 years together? It was going to be hard to work with somebody else, you know, after being so familiar with [Sajak],” she recalled. “It was just very hard for me to make that decision because I’m happy with my job. I still love my job. I decided to obviously stay on and I’m glad I did. There’s always contracts, there’s always controversy and all that stuff, but everything’s fine. I’m happy. We’re here.”
White was full of supportive words for her new cohost Seacrest, praising him for doing “an incredible job” of carrying on Sajak’s legacy.
Vanna White Ralph Notaro/Getty Images
“We’re about to wrap up our first year, and I think it’s obviously a huge transition,” she acknowledged. “Everyone has watched Pat and me together for 41 years. To bring someone new in, it’s hard to get used to. You want to stay with what’s familiar but [Ryan] has stepped in and done a great job.”
White went on, “He said, the first day Ryan walked in, he said, ‘Listen, no one can ever replace Pat. I’m just here to do the best job I can.’ He has done a good job. He’s fun to work with.”
Fans haven’t actually seen the last of Sajak and White together yet, as they will both return for Sajak’s final episodes as host of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune beginning Wednesday, April 30 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET. Sajak’s final spins of the wheel will see Katharine McPhee, Cameron Brink, Josh Gad, Tiffany Haddish, Regina Hall and more famous faces competing to win $1 million for their favorite charity.
Sajak joined Wheel of Fortune in 1981 as a replacement for original host Chuck Woolery, with White signing up as his on-air counterpart the following year. In 2019, Sajak set a Guinness World Record when he surpassed The Price Is Right’s Bob Barker as the longest-serving host of a game show.
When Sajak signed off in June 2024, he told Wheel of Fortune viewers that it had been “an honor” to be part of so many families’ lives during his 43 years on the series.
“I have a few thanks and acknowledgments before I go, and I want to start with all of you watching out there. It’s been an incredible privilege to be invited into millions of homes night after night, year after year, decade after decade,” he said.
Wheel of Fortune airs weeknights on ABC.
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