Vanna White, 66, has broken her silence following the news of Pat Sajak‘s retirement from the Wheel Of Fortune. “When we started @WheelofFortune who could have imagined we’d still be at it 41 seasons later? I couldn’t be happier to have shared the stage with you for all these years with one more to come. Cheers to you, @patsajak!” she tweeted on Tuesday, June 13 in response to Pat’s original retirement announcement tweet.
When we started @WheelofFortune who could have imagined we’d still be at it 41 seasons later? I couldn’t be happier to have shared the stage with you for all these years with one more to come. Cheers to you, @patsajak! https://t.co/yYmo3G0Dtb
— Vanna White (@TheVannaWhite) June 13, 2023
Pat, 76, announced his retirement following the 2023 – 2024 season on Monday, June 12. “Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last,” he said in a statement shared to his Twitter account. “It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it’ll keep the clickbait sites busy!)”
Although the news was shocking to fans (because how can anyone imagine the Wheel of Fortune being led by anyone else?!), Pat has hinted about his retirement in the past. “In most television shows by this time, you would have said, ‘That’s probably enough,’ but this show will not die,” he explained to Entertainment Tonight in Sept. 2022. “Years go by fast. 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.”
Pat first began hosting Wheel of Fortune in 1981, six years after it originally debuted with Chuck Woolery and his co-host, Susan Stafford, at the helm. Vanna joined in 1982 and the pair were a hit.
Vanna filled in as host for Pat for three weeks after he underwent emergency surgery in Nov. 2019. Although she admitted she was “very nervous” for her last-minute hosting gig, she was most concerned with her longtime colleague’s recovery. “My biggest concern was Pat’s health,” she told PEOPLE in Dec. 2019. “I was so worried, and it was so strange being on the set without him.
“I’ve never been on the set without him in 37 years, but the staff and crew were so supportive and made me so comfortable and helped me in every way,” she continued. “Everybody was so supportive. I had a few minor mistakes, but nothing that affected the game.” She also covered for Pat in May 2023 when he participated in the game as a celebrity contestant.
No plans for Pat’s replacement have been revealed publicly at the time of this writing, but it’s comforting to know that there’s one person who can do the job! On the other hand, Pat’s daughter, Maggie, has been working as a social correspondent for Wheel of Fortune for a handful of years. Her future with the show is also unknown at the time of this writing.