The makers of “Wheel of Fortune” are ready to solve the puzzle, spelling out the classic game show’s new host: Ryan Seacrest.
Sony Pictures Television said Seacrest inked a “multi-year agreement” to host the show beginning in September 2024. Seacrest will also serve as a consulting producer.
“I’m truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak,” the former “American Idol” host said in a statement about the move.
“I can’t wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White,” he added.
The decision comes a little more than two weeks after Pat Sajak announced his departure. Seventy-six-year-old Sajak, who served as host since 1981, said he would retire at the end of “Wheel of Fortune’s” upcoming season.
Seacrest, 48, who famously wears several showbiz hats as the host of “Idol,” the radio program “On Air” and the annual “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” exited his role as co-host of “Live with Kelly and Ryan” in April.
Seacrest, a Tuesday statement from Sony Pictures Television said, “is one of the most nationally recognized voices in media today.”
“Ryan loves ‘Wheel’ as much as we do and is the perfect person to continue the show’s four-decade success into the future,” Ravi Ahuja, Sony Pictures’ chairman of global television studios, said in announcing the choice.
The hire was first reported by The New York Times on Tuesday.
—Updated at 1:17 p.m.