Ryan Seacrest's New Gig: Selling Vowels

Wheel of Fortune is swapping one big-name host with another: Ryan Seacrest will replace Pat Sajak when the latter retires after the upcoming season, reports the Hollywood Reporter. Vanna White, who still has a year to go on her contract, is in talks to extend her run on the show beyond that, adds the New York Times. Seacrest is the longtime host of American Idol, and he recently wrapped up a six-year run as co-host of Live with Kelly Ripa. Seacrest will assume hosting duties for the 2024-25 season.

"I'm truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak," said the 48-year-old Seacrest in a statement. "One of my first jobs was hosting a little game show called Click for Merv Griffin 25 years ago, so this is truly a full circle moment for me and I'm grateful to Sony (Pictures Television) for the opportunity." The announcement comes just two weeks after Sajak said he was stepping down, notes PageSix, with Sony apparently hoping to avoid the mess Jeopardy! endured in replacing Alex Trebek. Wheel averages a solid 8.6 million viewers a night, just below Jeopardy!—though a far cry from its peak of about 40 million nightly viewers in the 1980s, per the Times. (More Ryan Seacrest stories.)