Wheel Of Fortune keeps on turning, gets new U.S. and U.K. hosts

Did you see white smoke rising from a smokestack in Burbank? A new host for Wheel Of Fortune has been chosen, just two weeks after longtime host Pat Sajak announced he’d soon be retiring. The new guy is an obvious choice (and one of The A.V. Club’s best guesses—sorry, Sarah Hyland!): Ryan Seacrest, a man who is simply addicted to hosting things. He only recently stepped down from his role at Live! With Kelly And Ryan, and has now signed a “multi-year agreement” to sign on as host and consulting producer starting in 2024, according to NBC News.

“I’m truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak. 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. 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,” Seacrest said in a statement posted to social media. “Many people probably don’t know this but one of my first jobs was hosting a little game show called Click for Merv Griffin 25 years ago so this is truly a full circle moment for me and I’m grateful to Sony for the opportunity.” (Griffin also created Wheel in 1975.)

He concluded his statement, “I can’t wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White.” White is under contract for another year and, according to a source for The New York Times, “is in negotiations to continue with the show.”

As it happens, Seacrest isn’t the only new hire in the Wheel Of Fortune world. Across the pond, beloved chat show host Graham Norton has been tapped to helm a U.K. version of the classic game show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series will air on ITV1 and ITVX in 2024, following a previous incarnation that ran from 1988 to 2001. “I’m beyond excited to be bringing such an iconic American show to a new British audience,” Norton said in his own statement. “My first ever TV job was a game show on ITV so this feels like coming full circle. You might even call it a wheel!”

Seems like they picked the right two guys for the job—career hosts who got their start in game shows. And so the Wheel Of Fortune keeps spinning on, and on, and on…