Pat Sajak’s Wheel of Fortune hosting duties are coming to an end soon, but apparently, the TV personality’s notice was sudden and has stirred up quite the commotion.
After 40 seasons as the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat will be stepping down next year following the conclusion of Season 41.
It wasn’t long after Pat’s June 12 announcement that Wheel of Fortune executives named his replacement, Ryan Seacrest.
According to a Wheel of Fortune insider, Pat “gave almost zero notice” before announcing his retirement.
The source told The Sun that Pat’s sudden announcement caused chaos among Wheel of Fortune execs and threatened to put the future of the show in jeopardy.
“Sony announced Ryan so quickly because they did not want to repeat the angst that happened around the drawn-out process of replacing the host and producing team on Jeopardy! after Alex Trebek’s passing,” the insider shared.
They added, “That said, Pat did not give the Sony bosses a lot of warning before his announcement and still has a full year on his contract that he plans to fulfill.”
Reportedly, Sony is under pressure to prove that Ryan was the best replacement for Pat. Given the short amount of time in which Ryan was named as the future Wheel of Fortune host, he will need to prove that he can keep the franchise afloat.
Ryan Seacrest is ‘truly humbled’ to take over as the host of Wheel of Fortune next year
Ryan certainly has the credentials to fill Pat’s shoes. He has become a household name with plenty of TV and radio hosting experience under his belt.
The 48-year-old TV personality has served as the host of American Idol, On Air with Ryan Seacrest, and American Top 40, co-hosted Live with Kelly and rings in the new year as the host of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest every December.
Despite his commendable resume, Pat Sajak’s sidekick of over 40 years, Vanna White, apparently isn’t thrilled about Ryan taking over Pat’s role as host of Wheel of Fortune.
Vanna White reportedly isn’t happy about Ryan Seacrest replacing Pat Sajak
A source close to Vanna claims that the veteran game show hostess felt “disrespected” by Wheel of Fortune producers for not considering her for Pat’s position.
“She was disappointed that they didn’t give her more of a chance to take over Pat’s job or that she wasn’t able to give her two cents on the replacement,” an insider told The Daily Mail.
In addition to vying for Pat’s spot as host of Wheel of Fortune, Vanna has also reportedly gone after more money, demanding that she receive half of Pat’s salary.
According to TMZ, Vanna came up short in her negotiations, however. Although she was able to hammer out a partial deal for her involvement on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Vanna is still under contract for another year on the weeknight syndicated version of the show and is looking to get Sony to pay up.
A source close to Vanna told TMZ, “It’s gonna get ugly if they [Sony] don’t get more serious [about her demands].”
Wheel of Fortune airs weeknights on ABC.