Pat Sajak, Vanna White to host 'Wheel of Fortune' through 2024
Sony Pictures Television announced Wednesday that Pat Sajak and Vanna White have inked a deal to host "Wheel of Fortune" through 2024.
While the game show has locked in its longtime hosts for future seasons, other features of the show are about to change for season 39.
Sajak -- who is now consulting producer as well as host -- 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 final round.
"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," Sajak said. "With this change, only the contestants determine the outcome of the game and the host does not impose themself in any way."
Sajak's daughter, Maggie Sajak, is joining "Wheel of Fortune" as its social correspondent. In this role, she will share exclusive content with fans on the show's website as well as its Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok channels. Maggie previously guest hosted with White while her father recovered emergency surgery to fix a blocked intestine in late 2019.
Additionally, the show's set will receive a facelift and its theme song, "Changing Keys," will get a modernized arrangement.
Another change is the chance for contestants to win more money. The "Free Play" wedge on the Wheel will be replaced with a $850 wedge and a $4,000 bonus will be given for contestants who solve all three puzzles in the Triple Toss Up Round. That ups the minimum amount that can be won on the Bonus Wheel to $39,000.
"Wheel of Fortune" season 39 premieres Monday, Sept. 13.
