Pat Sajak recently announced his retirement and there's been speculation on who would take the spot as Wheel of Fortune host. It has been announced that Ryan Seacrest will be Sajak's successor.
Seacrest expressed his excitement in a lengthy statement shared to Instagram. He said he is humbled to step into the shoes of "legendary" longtime host Pat Sajak, who is retiring next summer.
"I can say, along with the rest of America, that it's been a privilege and pure joy to watch Pat and Vanna on our television screens for an unprecedented 40 years, making us smile every night and feel right at home with them," Seacrest wrote. "Pat, I love the way you've always celebrated the contestants and made viewers at home feel at ease. I look forward to learning everything I can from you during this transition."
He added that one of his first jobs was hosting a game show called "Click" for Merv Griffin, who also created "Wheel" and "Jeopardy!," and called the appointment "a full circle moment."
"I can't wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White," he said.
Post-Wheel, 76-year-old Sajak has a new gig as chairman of the Board of Trustees for Hillsdale College, a Christian liberal arts school in Michigan that "conservatives like Ron DeSantis see… as a model for education nationwide." Eep!
Today, the college is known as a home for smart young conservatives who wish to engage seriously with the liberal arts. The Hillsdale education has several hallmarks: a devotion to the Western canon, an emphasis on primary sources over academic theory, and a focus on equipping students to be able, virtuous citizens. There is no department of women's and gender studies, no concentrations on race and ethnicity. It's a model of education that some scholars consider dangerously incomplete. It's also a model that communities across the country are looking to adopt.
