Tag Archives: Pat Sajak

Vanna White Co-Hosting Next Episode of “American Idol” with Ryan Seacrest This Monday

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Vanna White is bracing for an Idol appearance…

The 67-year-old half-Puerto Rican television personality and game show letter-turner will guest host American Idol alongside future Wheel of Fortune host Ryan Seacrest.

Vanna WhiteThe talent competition host said White would join him on Monday’s episode airing on ABC.

“A legend, a household name, a superstar named Vanna White is making a cameo on American Idol, Seacrest said on Good Morning America. “She’s watched for years, and she’s going to cohost a little bit with me on the next Idol Monday.”

Seacrest is taking over Wheel of Fortune following Pat Sajak’s retirement and will co-host the classic game show with White starting with Season 42.

Sajak has taped his final episode, which will air on Friday, June 7.

Sajak announced in June 2023 that he’d retire from the syndicated show, and Season 41 would be his last. The television presenter has hosted Wheel of Fortune since 1981 and has won three Emmys for his work.

After Sajak announced he was leaving his hosting duties at Wheel of Fortune, White said she thought about making an exit from the show as well.

“Of course it’s a thought,” White said in an interview with People magazine. “It’s like, ‘Well, wait, if you’re leaving, what am I going to do? How can I stay without you?’ It was a very hard decision for me to make, because it definitely crossed my mind. It’s like, ‘I just don’t know if I can do this without you,’ but I thought about it and I’m not ready to retire, so I am staying on.”

Seacrest has hosted American Idol since its premiere in 2002 on Fox.

The host remained in his position when the talent competition moved to ABC in 2018.

White will join Seacrest on the episode airing Monday, April 8 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Vanna White Agrees to New Deal to Return as Host of ABC’s “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune”

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Vanna White is turning things up…

The 66-year-old half-Puerto Rican television personality and game show letter-turner has signed a new deal to return as host of ABC’s Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, which reportedly involves a significant salary increase.

Vanna WhiteBut White hasn’t reached a deal to remain on the syndicated mothership Wheel of Fortune, as her contract runs through 2024.

Host Pat Sajak announced in June that he planned to retire from the syndicated game show after its upcoming 41st season. Ryan Seacrest will be taking the reins as host of Wheel of Fortune in Season 42 and also will serve as consulting producer. The show has been renewed through its 45th season.

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune offers a $1 million prize to the top-earning celebrity benefitting a charity. All they have to do is spin the wheel and solve puzzles while beating out their competitors. Prior stars visiting the show hosted by Sajak and White include Abbott Elementary stars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Janelle James and Chris Perfetti; Jack Black; Julie Bowen; Kal Penn; Sasheer Zamata; and RuPaul Charles.

Both Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune are produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Media Ventures. Bellamie Blackstone executive produces.

Justina Machado to Appear in First-Ever The Muppets Halloween Television Special

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It’ll be a Haunted Halloween for Justina Machado.

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican actress will appear in the first Halloween television special featuring The Muppets.

Justina Machado

Muppets Haunted Mansion will premiere on Friday, October 8, exclusively on Disney+.

Starring in the special alongside the Muppets are Will Arnett (as The Ghost Host), Yvette Nicole Brown (The Hearse Driver), Darren Criss (The Caretaker) and Taraji P. Henson (The Bride).

In Muppets Haunted Mansion, the Great Gonzo – world-famous daredevil artiste, has done it all, seen it all and survived it all. But on Halloween night, the fearless Gonzo takes on the greatest challenge of his life by spending one very daring night in the most grim grinning place on Earth: the Haunted Mansion.

In addition to Machado, Muppets Haunted Mansion will also feature appearances from Chrissy Metz, Alfonso Ribeiro, Edward Asner, Jeannie Mai, Danny Trejo, Sasheer Zamata, Craig Robinson, Skai Jackson, Pat Sajak, Geoff Keighley, Kim Irvine and John Stamos as himself.

The Muppets Haunted Mansion EP will be released on October 8 from Walt Disney Records, and will include three new original songs: “Rest in Peace,” “Life Hereafter,” and “Tie the Knot Tango,” plus a cover of the 1970s classic, “Dancing in the Moonlight.”

Vanna White to Continue Hosting “Wheel of Fortune” Through 2024

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Vanna White’s Wheels (and tiles) will keep on turnin’…

The 64-year-old half-Puerto Rican television personality and game show letter-turner and her Wheel of Fortune co-star Pat Sajak have on to continue hosting the show through the 2023-2024 season.

Vanna White

As part of the deal, Sajak has added consulting producer to his responsibilities.

Jim Thornton, who will mark his 10th anniversary as Wheel of Fortune announcer, will get an expanded on-screen presence in the new season, which premieres September 13. At the open of each episode, he will be featured at a new podium on stage as he introduces Sajak and White.

Here are some other changes in store for the upcoming season:

  • In the game show’s digital space, Maggie Sajak, Pat’s daughter, will be joining the show as Social Correspondent across all of Wheel of Fortune’s channels including: http://www.wheeloffortune.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
  • The set and music have been refreshed for the new season. The Wheel of Fortune theme song, “Changing Keys,” which will return this season with a modernized arrangement.
  • Sajak will no longer do the “Final Spin” of the game. Instead, the contestant in control of the Wheel at the time will spin to determine the amount each consonant is worth during the speed up round.
  • More money will be up for grabs in Season 39 with the removal of the “Free Play” wedge from the Wheel, which was replaced by an $850 wedge. Also, a $4,000 bonus is being added to contestants who solve all three puzzles in the Triple Toss Up Round, making the round worth $10,000. And finally, the minimum amount that can be won on the Bonus Wheel has been upped to $39,000, in honor of the show’s 39th season in syndication.
  • Returning is the show’s annual “Secret Santa Holiday Giveaway.” This popular sweepstakes gives Wheel Watchers Club members the chance to win everything a contestant wins, up to the million-dollar grand prize.

“If you think about it, by doing the “final spin” I, as host, had an impact on the outcome of the game and that has always bothered me because it just didn’t feel right,” said Sajak of the change in play of the game. “With this change, only the contestants determine the outcome of the game and the host does not impose themself in any way.”

After Wheel of Fortune hostess Susan Stafford left the show in October 1982, White was selected as one of three substitute hostesses (along with Vicki McCarty and Summer Bartholomew) to co-host the show. On December 13, 1982, White became the regular hostess. And the rest is herstory.

ABC Orders Celebrity Edition of “Wheel of Fortune,” Featuring Vanna White

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Vanna White will be turning letters for some high profile guests…

The 63-year-old half-Puerto Rican television personality and game show letter-turner will be taking part in Wheel of Fortune’s first-ever celebrity spinoff series at ABC.

Vanna White

The network has ordered a series of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, which will see the long-running game show make its primetime debut.

The spin-off will be hosted by Pat Sajak and White and will see celebrity contestants come spin the wheel and solve word puzzles for a chance to win up to $1M with all of the prize money going to a charity of their choice.

It’s the latest daytime game show to score its own celebrity spin-off following the likes of The Price Is Right at Night and Let’s Make A Deal, which also recently secured its first celebrity spin-off this season.

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune is produced by Sony Pictures Television with Mike Richards as executive producer.

The original show is in its 38th season and is contracted through the 2022-23 season.

The syndicated version of Wheel of Fortune is distributed by CBS Television Distribution.

Vanna White Temporarily Taking Up Pat Sajak’s Hosting Duties on Wheel of Fortune

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Vanna White is stepping things up…

The 62-year-old half-Puerto Rican television personality and game show letter-turner will fill in for her longtime sidekick, Wheel of Fortunehost Pat Sajak,as he recovers from surgery for a blocked intestine.

Vanna White

White, who has co-hosted the syndicated game show since 1982, will temporarily host the show while Sajak recovers for the next two weeks, according to the show’s official Twitteraccount.

Wheel of Fortuneis currently filming “Disney Week” at its studio in Los Angeles, with Mickey Mouse himself taking over White’s usual role of turning the letters.

The show was forced to cancel Thursday’s taping because of Sajak’s surgery.

“Our taping on Thursday was canceled because host Pat Sajak underwent successful emergency surgery to correct a blocked intestine,” the tweet said. “He is resting comfortably and looking forward to getting back to work. Taping resumed today as scheduled and Vanna White has stepped in as host.”

Sajak has hosted Wheel of Fortunefor nearly 38 years since taking over the longest-running game show in 1981. White joined as the official “letter-turner” a year later, and the two have co-hosted the show ever since.

It’s the longest-running syndicated game show in the US, with 7,000 episodes taped and aired as of May 10, 2019.

Vanna White’s “Wheel of Fortune” Renewed through the 2022-23 Season

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Vanna White will be spinning for several more years…

Less than a week after renewing her contract, the 61-year-old half-Puerto Rican television personality’s syndicated game show Wheel of Fortune has been renewed through the 2022-23 season.

Vanna White

Host Pat Sajak and letter-turner White will keep their roles on the popular game show.

The three-year renewal will take Wheel of Fortune through its 40th season. It will continue to air on numerous ABC stations, including those in the top four markets of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Wheel of Fortunereaches 25 million-plus weekly viewers, more than any other program on television.

In May 2013, Whitewas honored by Guinness World Records for being the most frequent clapper on television. As of January 31, 2013, it was estimated that she had clapped at least 3,480,864 times across the show’s 30 seasons. Having appeared in all but 10 of Wheel of Fortune‘s 5,754 episodes to that point, during the show’s modern syndicated run, which began on September 19, 1983. That averaged of to about 606 claps per show.

The show is executive produced by Harry Friedman for Sony Pictures Television and is distributed domestically by CBS Television Distribution and internationally by CBS Studios International.