TV

Pat Sajak is NOT coming out of a short-lived retirement to host the upcoming "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" season -- instead, this was always in the cards ... TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... when ABC announced Wednesday Pat would be hosting the fifth season of 'Celeb Wheel' this fall, there was speculation he was pulling a Tom Brady by quickly backing out of retirement.

That's not exactly the case, because sources with direct knowledge tell us it was always part of Pat's succession plan to do one last season of 'Celebrity Wheel' ... before riding off into the sunset and completely handing over the reigns to Ryan Seacrest.

American actor Josh Zuckerman was in his mid-20s when he first started playing Max Miller -- the intelligent technological entrepreneur and Naomi's hubby -- in the 2011 CW remake of the "90210" series.

Josh was part of an ensemble cast including AnnaLynne McCord as the wealthy and popular party planner, Naomi, Shenae Grimes as the bubbly and pure-hearted gal from Kansas who moved to Beverly Hills for high school, Annie and Matt Lanter as the troubled and handsome bartender, Liam.

Josh also had roles in "Sex Drive," "Kyle XY" and "Desperate Housewives."

Travis Kelce and Christian McCaffrey are used to playing against each other on NFL fields, but on Wednesday, they joined forces for a change ... and filmed what appears to be a fun commercial in Los Angeles.

The Chiefs tight end and the 49ers tailback teamed up for a shoot in Long Beach for Lowe's ... hitting one of the hardware giant's stores to appear in front of cameras.

McCaffrey looked as buff as ever as he cruised through the set in a red and blue No. 23 jersey ... and check out his left hand, he was also seen sporting a new ring on his finger after marrying Olivia Culpo earlier this month.

Bill Belichick officially has a new hustle ... the former New England Patriots coach is joining "Inside The NFL" this fall as an analyst.

The NFL announced the news Thursday morning ... revealing the future Hall of Famer will join Ryan Clark, Chad Johnson and Chris Long on the weekly program to break down all of the league's most compelling storylines.

Belichick's run on the show will start on Aug. 30 ... and will last through the Super Bowl.

Hoda Kotb's totally open to dating Kevin Costner -- now that she's found out fans have been shipping them together since she interviewed him a couple weeks ago.

On Tuesday's "Watch What Happens Live," a fan asked Hoda how she felt about fans wanting the romance and if she and Kevin have connected since the "Today" show last month. Totally shocked, she responded, "Wait, what?"

Andy Cohen elaborated viewers wanted to see the two of them together -- but Hoda was adamant she hadn't heard a peep of any of it.

Donald Trump says he's no fan of George Clooney's politics or movies – but he's totally down with the Hollywood actor's TV work.

Trump took to Truth Social Wednesday night and initially blasted Clooney for his New York Times op-ed in which he encouraged Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.

According to Clooney, Joe -- the presumptive Democratic nominee -- can't beat Trump because his mental acuity has plunged and he needs to step aside to save democracy.

Sydney Sweeney might be a good actress, but she's having trouble looking impressed by a computer-generated image of her ... even when put on the spot to do so.

The "Immaculate" star was shown a 3D, AI-generated portrait of herself Wednesday at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris, and her reaction is worth a look.

Check out the video ... Sydney's asked what she thinks of the computer version of her portrait and she did her best to force a smile, awkwardly saying, "Awww, I love it."

Gaten Matarazzo's pushing for "Stranger Things" to pick up the pace ... feeling the urgency to wrap the final season 'cause all the actors are growing up faster than the Demogorgon's appetite.

We caught up with the actor at LAX Wednesday ... and he's making it clear maintaining the illusion of still being a teen for the sci-fi Netflix series is getting trickier, especially since he's now 21 -- compared to 13 when he first started filming the show.

But Gaten tells us despite past delays like the writers' strike and the pandemic, they're now powering through to bring fans an epic 5th and final season -- and hopefully, so they can all move on and explore new opportunities.

Benji Gregory -- best known as the child star on the sitcom "Alf" -- has passed away ... TMZ can reveal.

The actor's sister Rebecca tells TMZ her brother was found dead in his car at a Chase Bank parking lot in Peoria, AZ, on June 13.

His death certificate confirms that date, and the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office tells us Benji's cause of death is still pending.

A fan-favorite 'Simpsons' gag from nearly 30 years ago is about to become a real life event -- courtesy of Cypress Hill -- and the writer who came up with the joke tells TMZ, he's freaking out ... in a good way.

The west coast rap legends -- B-Real, Sen Dog and DJ Muggs -- just announced plans to perform with the London Symphony Orchestra ... a concert idea born from the 1996 'Simpsons' episode, “Homerpalooza.”

On the show, Cypress Hill forgets all about the gig, because, well ... the "Insane in the Membrane" crew got high, of course.

Megan Thee Stallion was such a good sport participating on "Celebrity Family Feud," and even made it to the bonus round, but some of her fans think one of Steve Harvey's questions crossed a line!

Steve tossed up the question to Megan and Ne-Yo, asking, "Name something you've done to your mate's feet?" Megan immediately nailed the No. 1 answer, which was "massage," and opted to have her team to play through the question.

Some viewers didn't see the question as part of the fun -- Megan was infamously shot in her foot back in 2022 by Tory Lanez, and they deemed the question to be hella insensitive for the H-Town Hottie!!!

Hollywood loves a good exorcism movie, but real people all across the world sometimes claim they are possessed by demons ... and there's real questions surrounding the authenticity of exorcisms.

TMZ Studios has a new series, "Strange & Suspicious," now airing on a dozen FOX stations, where we explore strange, unexplained and downright weird stories, and now we're looking into the validity of exorcisms.

Take Anneliese Michel in Germany for example ... she was allegedly possessed by a demon, who claimed they had a right to use her body until she "croaked."

Courteney Cox isn't just grinding at the gym -- she's having a blast with it too, as you can see in this clip of her poking fun at her own efforts to stay forever young ... in a bikini.

The "Friends" star took fans behind the scenes of her wellness routine regimen, flaunting her toned figure in a tiny sports bra as she explained she's not exactly thrilled with recently hitting the big 6-0 -- so she's doing what she's gotta do to stay fabulous.

CC launched into her grueling exercise routine ... powering through squats, pull-ups, crunches, cardio and arm rows like a champ.

There's something going on with U.S. Presidents and UFOs ... they've been briefed on the subject, but won't say anything publicly ... and Donald Trump seems scared of disclosure.

TMZ Studios has a new series, "Strange & Suspicious," now airing on a dozen FOX stations, where we explore strange, unexplained and downright weird stories, and former presidents' silence on extraterrestrials speaks volumes.

Trump sounds like he knows something YUGE when it comes to UFOs ... but he always waffles on the issue, at least on camera ... and there may be a reason behind his reluctance to spill the beans.

50 Cent's growing TV and film empire is impressing Tyler Perry to no end -- so much so, he tells TMZ Hip Hop he's open to pairing their powerhouse studios for a future project.

Tyler was singing 50's praises when we saw him Monday in NYC ... where we got his reaction to a recent meeting they had at TP studios in Georgia, and from both accounts, things went well enough to blossom future meet-ups.

Tyler told us he couldn't be more proud of the strides 50's made, and tells us he's game for whatever collabs 50 and his team might want to do!