LOS ANGELES — “Wheel of Fortune” fans tuning into Monday’s much-anticipated debut of Ryan Seacrest as host (6:30 weeknights on WLS-Channel 7) will see big changes in the game show’s 42nd season.
At a taping last month, the studio audience went “Wheel” wild in front of a spanking new gold metal laminate-adorned set covered with 264 brilliant LED screens.
“It’s like remodeling your home after 40 years,” famed letter-turner and “Wheel” co-host Vanna White says, sitting next to host Ryan Seacrest in the show’s green room before their first taping. “You still feel like you’re at home, but it’s just a little updated.”
“We’re still trying to look for where the outlets are,” Seacrest adds with a laugh.
He’s joking, of course. Because the boyishly coiffed and lethally quippy “American Idol” host, 49, is really the big change at “Wheel.” Seacrest replaces Pat Sajak, 77, who retired in June after 41 years and more than 8,000 episodes of the Hangman-inspired TV game show.
Fear not, die-hard fans: Seacrest promises a limit to the modifications. He’s not going to try to reinvent the “Wheel of Fortune.”
“Nothing needs to change. Just me standing there with my voice and my mannerisms, that’s different enough,” says Seacrest, who practiced hosting for months with mock games and contestants. “I want the audience to feel like this is the right decision. I want (the show) to be something that’s not jarring, that’s seamless.”
Comforting points of consistency carry over from the Sajak era: The multicolored wheel spun by the three contestants remains unchanged after 20 years, still making that telltale clicking noise from the outside steel pins hitting the rubber flapper. The puzzles won’t vary. Golden-piped Jim Thornton remains the “Wheel” announcer. And buying a vowel costs the same. “It’s been $250 for 42 years,” White says proudly.
The famous co-host, who extended her contract for two years in 2023 after Sajak’s retirement announcement, remains the ultimate and fashionably gowned conduit to the new era.
“It was a hard decision to make when I heard that Pat was leaving. It was like, ‘Gosh, we’ve been together 40 years. Do I go with him?’ ” White says. “But then I thought that I’m not ready to leave. I’m not ready to retire.”
If there’s one lingering question from “Wheel” fans, it’s just how long Seacrest will last. Sajak is synonymous with “Wheel,” setting a Guinness Book record for hosting the same show.
Seacrest has a famously super-packed schedule, even by hard-charging Hollywood standards. He hosts the daily IHeart radio program “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” and the weekly “American Top 40” show (inherited from the legendary Casey Kasem). He’ll ring in 2025 by hosting his 20th edition of ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” (inherited from the legendary Dick Clark) before gearing up to host Season 23 of the network’s “American Idol” in February.
Between the “well-oiled machine” of “Wheel,” with its episodes filmed in strategic batches (six a day, four times a month) and his famously insane planning, Seacrest says the new gig doesn’t rob him of his sleep time.
“You can look at my schedule until 2026, and if you want to know when I’m working out, I can tell you,” Seacrest says. “This show allows me to do a lot of different things because of the way they put it together in the (schedule) puzzle. But there’s never a dull moment.”
Read more at usatoday.com.