Pat Sajak Hints His Wheel Of Fortune Exit Might Come Sooner Than We Thought
Hosting "Wheel of Fortune" is a pretty sweet gig — if you can get it. Pat Sajak gets paid around $14 million a year to watch contestants spend a colorful wheel while his co-host, Vanna White, does all the leg work. And he's been making big money doing so since 1981. He's even scored a Guinness World Record for hosting the same game show longer than anyone else.
In addition to the pay, the hours aren't too bad. While Wheel Watchers try to solve puzzles five nights a week, Sajak and White film far less frequently. "We go our separate ways and don't see each other for two weeks," Sajak said of White in a Television Academy Foundation interview. "Every marriage in America would be successful if it were lived that way."
But no matter how easy the job, some viewers think that Sajak might be growing tired of the game. "I feel like Pat Sajak is just OVER it," tweeted one Wheel Watcher. "Pat Sajak needs to retire. He's turned into a cranky old man, and who wants to watch that?? Pat, we'll remember the good years, and we'll try to forget the shows that you were nasty," another wrote. Well, according to the host, he might take this advice sooner rather than later.
Pat Sajak thinks Wheel of Fortune will go on without him
After four decades on "Wheel of Fortune," Pat Sajak is finally thinking about throwing in the towel. "We're getting near the end. It's been a long [time]. We're not gonna do this for another 40 years. The end is near," he told ET. But he doesn't believe that the show will end when he decides to retire. "It appears I may go before the show," he joked. According to USA Today, his current contract ends in 2024, as does Vanna White's, so viewers won't be saying goodbye to the co-hosts in the immediate future.
While Pat may be thinking about stepping down as host, his relationship with the game show is stronger than ever — he's now a consulting producer, and his daughter, Maggie Sajak, has joined the "Wheel of Fortune" family as a social media correspondent.
But in recent years, Pat has taken some heat for his treatment of contestants, like when he appeared to mock a man with a lisp in 2021, per Vice. As reported by The U.S. Sun, he further outraged viewers in April when he asked White, "Have you ever watched opera in the buff?" One Twitter reaction read, "Pat Sajak put Vanna White in a bad spot with his very inappropriate comment to her." And in response to a photo of Pat posing with controversial far-right politician Marjorie Taylor Greene, some disappointed viewers have vowed to stop watching the show.