Pat Sajak is recovering well from his surgery in late 2019, but the writing is on the wall when it comes to his time on Wheel of Fortune. Much like longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, his long tenure at the wheel is in its final stretch run, and recent health scares for both of them have fans of the syndicated game shows questioning the future.
Surgery for Sajak actually took him out of hosting duties for some episodes filmed in late 2019, but don’t ask him who he has in mind once he finally decides to wrap up his career hosting games shows. Sajak told TMZ that he doesn’t care who replaces him once he’s done on Wheel of Fortune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYtqeiDZjYQ
“Once I’m gone, I don’t care who takes the reins,” he said.
Sajak’s daughter, Maggie, actually filled in as a letter-turner on the show while Vanna White hosted some episodes while he was out. The longtime letter-turner praised her for her work on the show.
“”I’m so proud of her,” White said. “She did a great job. Better than me!”
Sajak posted a message last week clarifying his return to the show, saying he’s feeling better but won’t be back on the show just yet.
“This is a little complicated, so pay attention,” Sajak said in a video released on Monday. “I was back from my surgery last week and had a wonderful time on the show, and I’m not going to be here this week. It’s not that I had a relapse, it’s just because of the technicalities of the taping order and all that. So you’re going to see Vanna doing her Pat impression here. She does a great job. And we have a special letter toucher.”
Hopefully he’s back full-time soon enough, and we don’t have to worry about a full-time replacement for him anytime soon, even if he has said he only thinks he has a few years left before he’ll call it a career.
