Pat Sajak plans to retire from hosting “Wheel of Fortune” within the next few years, he said in an interview aired Friday on the heels of his recent emergency surgery.
Mr. Sajak, the host of “Wheel” since 1981, said during an interview that he plans to leave that role within the next “couple years.”
“I’d rather leave a couple years too early than a couple years too late,” Mr. Sajak told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “I don’t have a date in mind, but you know, two, three [years], something like that.”
Mr. Sajak, 73, discussed his future during an interview billed as his first since undergoing emergency surgery last month and temporarily relinquishing hosting duties to his longtime sidekick, Vanna White.
“In nearly 40 years, I’ve never missed a taping,” Mr. Sajak said. “I’m not a young man, and I’ve still been doing it for over half my life.”
Mr. Sajak said he went under the knife within hours of being hospitalized upon experiencing “excruciating” abdominal pains. He said he is now feeling “ridiculously good” after having surgery for a blocked intestine and has been filming new episodes for several weeks while on the mend.
Mr. Sajak has hosted more than 7,000 episodes of “Wheel,” and as of May he holds the Guinness World Record for the “longest career as a game show host for the same show.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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