Rumors Suggest Vanna White Is Considering Retirement With Pat Sajak Gone

It's the end of an era. The Wheel of Fortune we cherished in the '80s and '90s is now a distant memory, especially since the longtime and beloved co-host Pat Sajak retired.

On June 12, 2023, Pat announced his retirement. He tweeted, "Well, the time has come. I've decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. It's been a wonderful ride, and I'll have more to say in the coming months."

Pat's longtime co-host, Vanna White responded to the news on Twitter, saying, "I couldn't be happier to have shared the stage with you for all these years with one more to come." However, fans recall Vanna saying that being on the show without Pat is unimaginable to her.

With Ryan Seacrest stepping in, it now seems that unimaginable scenario is unfolding. In June 2024, rumors began swirling that Vanna is ready to exit the show, even if it means ending her contract early. Will she retire?

If you're an OG fan of the show, you may remember when Vanna first joined Wheel's team in 1980. Since then, she and Pat have become one of the longest-running duos on TV. It's difficult to imagine someone else tapping the tiles or another dude in a suit talking with hopeful contestants gunning for a huge cash prize.

The show's creator, the late Merv Griffin, clearly felt that the pair were about as iconic a duo as one could find and that they were a team "like Ken and Barbie." In a January 2021 interview with Access Hollywood, Vanna said that the idea of being on the show without Pat is unimaginable to her.

"I can't imagine doing the show without Pat," Vanna told the outlet. Pat revealed he felt the same way and suggested that when one of them decided it was time to hang up their proverbial spurs, they would do so as a duo. "Yeah, we've talked about it, and we'll probably walk off into the sunset at the same time."

Word has it, though, is Vanna reached a contractual deal and is slated to stay on air through the next two seasons (through 2026).

The deal may have come with a long overdue pay raise — one she hasn't received in 18 years. Initial negotiations stalled due to her plateaued salary. She was earning $3 million yearly on the show, while her counterpart earned nearly five times that amount.

However, after Pat Sajak retired, Vanna's salary was increased to $7.5 million, bringing her total earnings from all her hosting gigs to $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

“Vanna has been such a staple on that show and in our living rooms for so many years. I have been very excited to work with her, but now that it's official I can say, 'Congratulations Vanna! I can't wait,'" said Ryan in a pre-taping for Sunday Today With Willie Geist.

While fans were eager to see how Vanna and Ryan would gel on the show, a source told DailyMail in June 2024 that Vanna is considering quitting early. "She just doesn't jibe with Ryan like she did with Pat, and no one really ever expected her to. There is just no way that she possibly could," the source disclosed. Could Vanna retire early? Her future on the show remains uncertain.

They added, "Vanna feels that she has put her time in. She devoted her entire life to this show and she had an incredible run while making a fortune. She knows that the show needs to go in a different direction and appeal to a younger demographic. She wants the show to continue."

After hosting his monumental 7,000th episode of Wheel of Fortune in 2019, Pat told USA Today he would likely retire in the "single digits" of years from then. And that, he did, announcing his retirement just four years later.

"I'd like to leave while the show's still popular, and I'd like to leave before people ask me to leave. And I'd like to leave before people tune in and see me and go, 'Ooh, what the hell happened to him?'" he said.