The television world is about to lose a legend.
On Monday, Pat Sajak announced he will retire after Wheel of Fortune’s upcoming 41st season, which starts shooting in September.
“Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last,” the iconic host wrote on Twitter.
“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!)”
Sajak hinted that it wouldn’t be hosting Wheel of Fortune forever in an interview with Entertainment Tonight last year.
“We’re getting near the end,” the 76-year old told the outlet at the time. “We’re not gonna do this for another 40 years. The end is near.”
Sajak debuted as Wheel of Fortune host in 1981.
He had previously worked as a weatherman for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.
In a statement to People Magazine and other celebrity gossip websites, Suzanne Prete, the EVP of Game Shows at Sony Pictures Television, also confirmed Sajak’s upcoming retirement.
However, she noted that he would serve as a consultant on the program for the next three years.
“As the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat has entertained millions of viewers across America for 40 amazing years,” Prete said. “We are incredibly grateful and proud to have had Pat as our host for all these years and we look forward to celebrating his outstanding career throughout the upcoming season. Pat has agreed to continue as a consultant on the show for three years following his last year hosting, so we’re thrilled to have him remaining close to the Wheel of Fortune family!”
Sajak has been joined on Wheel of Fortune by co-host and letter-turner Vanna White for all of his time on the show except one season.
“We’re a team,” White told ET in 2022 of Sajak possibly walking away. “That’s depressing. I don’t even want to think about it.”
Sajak broke the Guinness World Record for longest-running game show host in 2019 … surpassing Bob Barker, who hosted The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007.
“It’s an honor to have been in people’s living rooms for that long,” Sajak also told ET.
No replacement has been named yet for Sajak.
From what we can gather, White has no plans to follow her good friend out the door.
“When I started hosting Wheel (with Susan Stafford) on this date 40 years ago, the top 10 TV shows included Dallas, Three’s Company, The Jeffersons and The Dukes of Hazzard,” Sajak tweeted in December 2021.
“Ronald Reagan was in his 1st year as president. Number 1 song: Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical.’”
What a run! We wish Pat Sajak all the best.