‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Sound off on Pat Sajak’s Return to Hosting

Pat Sajak had his triumphant return to Wheel of Fortune this evening, and fans couldn’t be happier. Last month, the long-running host had to temporarily step down from hosting duties for an emergency surgery he needed due to a blocked intestine. While he was gone, resident letter-turner Vanna White took over hosting duties, while his daughter, Maggie, filled in for her.

Now that he’s back, the game show’s fans were more than thrilled to welcome him back to the Wheel of Fortune helm.

“I’ve never been so happy to see Pat Sajak in my life,” wrote one fan, while another chimed in with “Pat Sajak is back, Vanna is turning the letters and all seems a little more right in this crazy world.” A third said that “it was not the same with you not there. Glad you are feeling better and ready to get back to work. Really missed you.”

As the credits started to roll, Sajak thanked everyone for their well wishes, while joked that he’ll try “not to do that again” anytime soon. White, standing at his side as usual, jokingly threw him a “please!”

While Sajak was back in his element tonight, he’s been hosting the show since December 1981, making him the longest-tenured game show host in history. Naturally, this has some people wondering when he plans to retire, and who’d replace him as host.

Sajak hasn’t mentioned any specifics about his exit from Wheel, but he told TMZ that he doesn’t have a lot of interest in whoever would end up taking over for him.

“Once I’m gone, I don’t care who takes the reins,” he said, with a little bit of sly humor.

When speaking with Good Morning America recently, Sajak explained that he’s contracted to the show through 2022, explaining that he’d “rather leave a couple years too early than a couple years too late,” adding that he doesn’t have an exact exit date in mind just yet. “You know, two, three [years], something like that.”

Even though tonight marks his permanent return, Sajak had previously come back for a run of shows last week, but due to the complications in their taping schedule, he was gone last week as well. Given his upbeat attitude of late, it seems like he’ll happily remain at his post for the time being.

“I’ve actually felt ridiculously good for several weeks,” Sajak boasted to GMA. “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.”