Pat Sajak’s Ups and Downs Through the Years: ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Mishaps, Health Scares and More

Credit: Patrick Lewis/Starpix/Shutterstock

Pat Sajak’s Ups and Downs Through the Years: ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Mishaps, Health Scares and More

Playing the game of life. Pat Sajak’s journey to becoming the longest-running TV game show host has had its ups and downs over the years. The TV personality became a staple of the small screen after taking over for original Wheel of Fortune host Chuck Woolery in 1981. “When I started hosting Wheel (with Susan Stafford) on this date 40 years ago, the top 10 TV shows included Dallas, Three’s Company, The Jeffersons and The Dukes of Hazzard,” Sajak tweeted in December 2021, in honor of his 40th anniversary as host. “Ronald Reagan was in his 1st year as president. Number 1 song: Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical.’" One year after beginning his decades-long career on the show, he was joined by cohost Vanna White, and the two have been entertaining viewers for over 40 years. “We’re like a brother and sister after 37 years,” White exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2019. “I think the two of us have been together longer than anyone else, as far as having spouses or children or whatever. We have been together a long time. … I can just look at him and tell what kind of a mood he’s in.” Five years after taking on his now-iconic role, Sajak split from his ex-wife, Sherrill James. He later tied the knot with Lesly Brown, and the two became parents to son Patrick and daughter Maggie in 1990 and 1995, respectively. In addition to helping make contestants’ dreams come true with expensive prizes and elaborate trips, the Chicago native’s actions as host have occasionally garnered him backlash from Wheel of Fortune fans. Following the show’s April 13, 2022, episode, fans called Sajak out on social media over a joke he made about White. Since the episode’s winner was an opera singer, the host wrapped up the episode by asking White, “Are you an opera buff at all?” to which she responded, “Yes, I’m not a buff, but I like opera.” [jwplayer VBRLSFFo-zhNYySv2] Poking fun at her answer, Sajak joked, “Have you ever watched opera in the buff? I’m just curious.” After the episode, one fan tweeted, “I feel like I just witnessed a #metoo moment on @WheelofFortune?” Another user defended the star, writing, “People love shows and sitcoms with filthy language and violence then want to jump on Pat Sajak for everything he says. I’m sure his intent was a play on words from Vanna’s I’m not an opera buff. I don’t think he was trying to insinuate anything inappropriate.” White did not publicly comment on the joke. In addition to online criticism, Sajak also faced a major health scare in November 2019, as he had to undergo emergency surgery due to a blocked intestine. “Our taping on Thursday was canceled because host Pat Sajak underwent successful emergency surgery to correct a blocked intestine,” the show’s Twitter page wrote in a statement at the time. “He is resting comfortably and looking forward to getting back to work. Taping resumed today as scheduled and Vanna White has stepped in as host.” He opened up about his near-fatal illness one month later, telling Good Morning America that he was in surgery within two and a half hours of experiencing “horrific pain” in his stomach. Feeling “great” at the time of the interview, Sajak went on to note, “I’ve actually felt ridiculously good for several weeks. I’ve been back in the studio actually, doing shows. Even spinning the wheel and, you know, nothing has popped. So I think it’s OK. … I’m as good or bad as new, and that’s great. I still have my wits about me. They didn’t remove that, so I’ll be selling vowels for a long time.” Scroll below for a timeline of Sajak’s ups and down through the years:

Credit: Patrick Lewis/Starpix/Shutterstock

Pat Sajak’s Ups and Downs Through the Years: ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Mishaps, Health Scares and More

Playing the game of life. Pat Sajak’s journey to becoming the longest-running TV game show host has had its ups and downs over the years. The TV personality became a staple of the small screen after taking over for original Wheel of Fortune host Chuck Woolery in 1981. “When I started hosting Wheel (with Susan Stafford) on this date 40 years ago, the top 10 TV shows included Dallas, Three’s Company, The Jeffersons and The Dukes of Hazzard,” Sajak tweeted in December 2021, in honor of his 40th anniversary as host. “Ronald Reagan was in his 1st year as president. Number 1 song: Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical.’" One year after beginning his decades-long career on the show, he was joined by cohost Vanna White, and the two have been entertaining viewers for over 40 years. “We’re like a brother and sister after 37 years,” White exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2019. “I think the two of us have been together longer than anyone else, as far as having spouses or children or whatever. We have been together a long time. … I can just look at him and tell what kind of a mood he’s in.” Five years after taking on his now-iconic role, Sajak split from his ex-wife, Sherrill James. He later tied the knot with Lesly Brown, and the two became parents to son Patrick and daughter Maggie in 1990 and 1995, respectively. In addition to helping make contestants’ dreams come true with expensive prizes and elaborate trips, the Chicago native’s actions as host have occasionally garnered him backlash from Wheel of Fortune fans. Following the show’s April 13, 2022, episode, fans called Sajak out on social media over a joke he made about White. Since the episode’s winner was an opera singer, the host wrapped up the episode by asking White, “Are you an opera buff at all?” to which she responded, “Yes, I’m not a buff, but I like opera.” [jwplayer VBRLSFFo-zhNYySv2] Poking fun at her answer, Sajak joked, “Have you ever watched opera in the buff? I’m just curious.” After the episode, one fan tweeted, “I feel like I just witnessed a #metoo moment on @WheelofFortune?” Another user defended the star, writing, “People love shows and sitcoms with filthy language and violence then want to jump on Pat Sajak for everything he says. I’m sure his intent was a play on words from Vanna’s I’m not an opera buff. I don’t think he was trying to insinuate anything inappropriate.” White did not publicly comment on the joke. In addition to online criticism, Sajak also faced a major health scare in November 2019, as he had to undergo emergency surgery due to a blocked intestine. “Our taping on Thursday was canceled because host Pat Sajak underwent successful emergency surgery to correct a blocked intestine,” the show’s Twitter page wrote in a statement at the time. “He is resting comfortably and looking forward to getting back to work. Taping resumed today as scheduled and Vanna White has stepped in as host.” He opened up about his near-fatal illness one month later, telling Good Morning America that he was in surgery within two and a half hours of experiencing “horrific pain” in his stomach. Feeling “great” at the time of the interview, Sajak went on to note, “I’ve actually felt ridiculously good for several weeks. I’ve been back in the studio actually, doing shows. Even spinning the wheel and, you know, nothing has popped. So I think it’s OK. … I’m as good or bad as new, and that’s great. I still have my wits about me. They didn’t remove that, so I’ll be selling vowels for a long time.” Scroll below for a timeline of Sajak’s ups and down through the years:

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1981

Sajak began hosting Wheel of Fortune in 1981. His longtime cohost White took over for former cohost Stafford in 1982 following her exit from the series.

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1986

After tying the knot in 1979, the Celebrity Wheel of Fortune host and James called it quits.

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1989

Sajak married Brown in 1989. One year later, they welcomed their son Patrick, followed by their daughter, Maggie, in 1995.

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November 2019

The Muppets Haunted Mansion star temporarily stepped down from hosting duties following emergency surgery. White stepped in during his absence, an experience she exclusively told Us she was both "nervous" and "excited" about.

“I have never even thought of hosting the show. Never crossed my mind," she shared in December 2019. "But obviously, I stepped in, took one for the team to fill in for him because I’m very familiar with the show after all these years. And our executive producer thought I was the perfect person to do that in his absence. So it was good. It was different. It was fun. But I’m glad he’s back. … I learned that I was very uncomfortable doing it and agreeing to do it because it was just so out of my comfort zone, but I learned that I could step up to the plate if I had to.”

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December 2019

Sajak opened up about his life-threatening health scare the following month in an interview with GMA. “You couldn’t do anything. I was in [a] fetal position, lying on the bed,” he recalled. “They try to give you various drugs for the pain. And none of it — none — was working. And then they gave me something, I couldn’t even tell you the name of it, but suddenly, I wasn’t thinking about the pain. I just had these beautiful pastels and lovely faces coming out of it.”

The Commish alum continued: “In the background, I could hear my wife and daughter talking. It sounded like they were a mile off, but they were right next to me. They were talking to each other. And I remember thinking, not in a morbid way, ‘I think this must be death. This must be what death is like.’ … Hearing their voices, I thought, ‘Boy, their lives are gonna change now.’ And I felt badly for them. I didn’t feel badly about dying. I felt badly that they were gonna have to deal with the aftermath. As it turned out, I was just high.”

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April 2021

The TV star unintentionally revealed the answer to a puzzle on an episode of Wheel of Fortune. Taking a look at the board — which read “_ _ _ T E _ R A N _ L _" — Sajak quipped, “Yikes! Well, I’d rather be standing here than there, quite frankly.”

The answer ended up being "quite frankly,” though the contestant didn't figure it out before their time was up.

“I did [realize I gave away the answer] right after I said it,” Sajak stated in a video that aired after the episode. “I wonder how many people at home caught it. There weren’t many letters up there and I said, ‘I’d rather be here than there, quite frankly’ — which was the puzzle. But it goes to show you that people are concentrating and they’re not paying any attention to me.”

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March 2022

During their intro, a contestant detailed the story of how paramedics saved his toe from falling off following a bike accident as a kid. After Sajak’s response — "That may have been the most pointless story ever told. And you told it, Scott. Congratulations to you" — the host was immediately criticized by fans.

One Twitter user wrote, “I felt so bad for the contestant. Pat Sajak should be well aware of how mean it is to belittle someone on nationwide television."

The backlash came just a few days after the Days of Our Lives alum showed grace towards contestants who continuously failed to solve a puzzle. "It always pains me when nice people come on our show to play a game and win some money and maybe fulfill a lifelong dream, and are then subject to online ridicule when they make a mistake or something goes awry," he tweeted earlier that month.

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April 2022

Fans called out the host for making an inappropriate comment aimed at White. Following an opera singer contestant's big win, Sajak asked his cohost at the end of the episode, “Are you an opera buff at all?” After she answered, “Yes, I’m not a buff, but I like opera," he joked in response, “Have you ever watched opera in the buff? I’m just curious.” White did not publicly address the joke.

Credit: Patrick Lewis/Starpix/Shutterstock

September 2022

Sajak teased that his time on Wheel of Fortune may be coming to a close sooner than later. "Years go by fast. We're getting near the end. It's been a long [time]. We're not gonna do this for another 40 years. The end is near," he told Entertainment Tonight, adding, "It's an honor to have been in people's living rooms for that long. People were out there welcoming us. We're happy and proud."

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2023

The producer bickered with a Wheel of Fortune contestant in January 2023. After a contestant failed to guess the Fun & Games category puzzle "Taking a quick jog," Sajak remarked, “Wow, that was so unclose. You just didn’t have the letters.” The contestant quipped, “I just don’t consider jogging fun and games."

Two months later, Sajak came under fire once again after he told another contestant to “Please, solve the darn puzzle!” that had two letters remaining. Though they guessed the answer correctly, Sajak stated, “It’s a horrible moment when you know that everyone in America knows what this is, why don’t I? But you got it.”