LOS ANGELES (AP) ā The category? āProper Name.ā The answer? Ryan Seacrest, who will become the new āWheel of Fortuneā host after Pat Sajakās retirement next year.
Seacrest and Sony Pictures Television announced Tuesday that Seacrest has signed a multiyear deal to host the long-running game show starting with Season 42. Sajak recently announced the upcoming 41st season would be his last on the show.
Itās the latest hosting gig for Seacrest, the popular āAmerican Idolā host who also now rings in the new year for many on āDick Clarkās New Yearās Rockinā Eve.ā
āIām truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak,ā Seacrest said in a statement. āI can say, along with the rest of America, that itās been a privilege and pure joy to watch Pat and Vanna on our television screens for an unprecedented 40 years, making us smile every night and feel right at home with them.ā
Seacrest in his statement also praised Vanna White, another mainstay of āWheel of Fortune,ā and signaled she would remain on the show after Sajakās retirement. Both White and Sajak have been on the show since the early 1980s.
āI canāt wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White,ā Seacrestās statement said. He also said he was looking to learn as much as possible from Sajak during the transition period.
The show tapes in Southern California, where Seacrest also hosts a popular nationally syndicated morning drivetime radio show. In February, Seacrest announced he would leave the New York-based televised morning show āLive with Kelly and Ryanā after six years. Kelly Ripa now hosts that show with her husband Mark Consuelos.
Sajak, 76, has presided over the game show, in which contestants guess letters to try to fill out words and phrases in pursuit of money and prizes, since 1981. He took over duties from Chuck Woolery, who was the showās host when it debuted in 1975. The show started out as a daytime game show but became a syndicated nightly telecast in 1983, making Sajak and White the main faces of āWheel of Fortuneā for viewers for four decades.
Pat Sajak attends a ceremony honoring Harry Friedman with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Nov. 1, 2019, left, and Ryan Seacrest attends the Walt Disney Television 2019 upfront in New York on May 14, 2019. Seacrest will become the new āWheel of Fortuneā host after Pat Sajakās retirement next year. Seacrest and Sony Pictures Television announced Tuesday that Seacrest has signed a multi-year deal to host the long-running game show starting with Season 42. (AP Photo)