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"I'm very very excited and honored."
Ryan Seacrest made a huge announcement that he will be taking over for Pat Sajak as host of Wheel of Fortune, two weeks after the show's host of 40 years announced he plans to retire at the end of the next season.
While he was on-air today, Seacrest shared his excitement over the news and it being a full-circle moment. He shared how he auditioned with Merv Griffin, the creator of popular game shows like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, when Seacrest was 21 or 22 years old for one of his first jobs as the host of a game show called Click, also created by Griffin. Seacrest recalls talking with the game show creator 25 years ago about creating Wheel of Fortune, and being inspired by the game of Hangman.
Tanya Rad asked the future Wheel host, "Do you feel like your life, when you at your life and you look back at those moments of those shows you hosted when you were 22 years old, did you ever think in a million years flash forward however many years that you would be the host of Wheel of Fortune?"
"No, never."
Seacrest will begin hosting Wheel of Fortune alongside Vanna White in the fall of 2024.
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