Wheel of Fortune’s past and present: Who hosted before Pat Sajak?

With Pat Sajak’s announcement that he was leaving at the end of Wheel of Fortune‘s 41st season, many are considering the longevity and consistency of the beloved nightly game show. For 41 years he has served as main host, maintaining his affable persona throughout his more than 7,000 episode appearances.

He is as associated with the show as the while tiled letter wall that spells out the clues, and many have been wondering who could possibly fill his shoes; there had been rumblings that the only man who could possibly fill his role was another workaholic host, Ryan Seacrest, and indeed, it was announced late June that he was chosen as the new host, to take up the mantle starting at the commencement of the 42nd season of the show. But who has been in the host position before? And what makes Wheel of Fortune the classic that is has been for four decades?

Who hosted Wheel of Fortune before Pat Sajak?

First airing in1975, the show comes with a history of a previous host and also guest hosts that have served as relief for Sajak when he was unavailable. When the show first aired, Chuck Woolery was host for the fledgling show, and stayed on for six years until a salary dispute led to him being dropped by producers. He had been suggested as host by Wheel of Fortune creator Merv Griffin after Griffin had seen him perform on The Tonight Show. He even had his own letter turner in model Susan Stafford, the first to do the job before Vanna White came in with Sajak.

After Woolery was let go from his position, he went on to host a bevy of game shows; he hosted Love Connection immediately after Wheel of Fortune, serving a long tenure from 1983 to 1994, and in the interim hosted the television game show version of Scrabble from 1984 to the early ’90s. He later went on to host a new iteration of The Dating Game in the late ’90s as well, with more short runs of game show hosting duties going on into the early 2000s, including the show Lingo.

Who hosted the game show when Sajak was absent?

When Pat Sajak got his position as host for Wheel of Fortune, the show played on televisions in a daytime slot as well as it’s current evening spot. Wanting more exposure, Sajak left his hosting duties for the daytime Wheel of Fortune in 1989 to have his own late night talk show at CBS. A number of replacements were auditioned, and it was settled that Rolf Benirschke, a former professional football player, would take his daytime spot. Once again, creator of the show Merv Griffin has seen Benirschke on a talk show, and thought he’d be a great fit for the wordy competition. Alas, he only hosted for five short months, as the daytime version of Wheel of Fortune was cancelled in 1989. He never again attempted any position in television, instead forming a few companies and becoming a health advocate for people with GI tract issues.

After Benirschke and the cancellation of the daytime version of the game show, the format of Wheel of Fortune was retooled and again presented in summer 1989 on daytime television, this time with host Bob Goen. His version only lasted until 1991, when the daytime version of the show was canceled for good. Goen later went on to host Entertainment Tonight between 1993 and 2004.

With the nighttime version now the only Wheel of Fortune presented on television, Sajak has hosted and been sole host ever since.

Is Ryan Seacrest a good fit for Wheel of Fortune’s hosting duties?

Ryan Seacrest is one of our nation’s most visible entertainment personalities. He’s worn so many hats that quite frankly it’s hard to recap all that he’s had a hand in – he’s hosted Live with Kelly and Ryan, a post he left in April 2023, he’s hosted American Idol since 2002, he covers sports, fashion, and red carpet events for major television channels. If you’ve owned a television for the past 25 years, you are aware of Ryan Seacrest and the many tasks he is able to take on as on-air personality, producer, and host. It’s a no brainer that he be hired to host one of the nation’s most beloved game shows. Wheel of Fortune ranks up there with Jeopardy as an American Institution, one that we can rely on for consistent puzzle-solving fun. Ryan Seacrest has been clawing his way up the entertainment ladder and has arrived at the apex – being offered the hosting gig of said American Institution.

Once Sajak retires and has his well earned break from the show, we’ll see how Seacrest performs. It’s strange to think of anyone else filling the shoes of Wheel host because, as seen in this article, when Sajak wasn’t hosting, no one could really match his demeanor and gain the trust of the audience quite like he can. But Seacrest is definitely up for the job – we’ll see many more years of Wheel of Fortune, and while we’ll miss Pat Sajak, Ryan Seacrest will have no trouble becoming that familiar face on our tv screens.