Wheel of Fortune

Ryan Seacrest is a candidate to take the reins from the outgoing Pat Sajak as the next host of "Wheel of Fortune" ... and we've learned discussions are in the very early stages.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Ryan is an option to replace Pat and he's been talking to Sony about potentially taking over for the retiring host. We're told Ryan has some time in his schedule now to possibly make this work, as he's no longer on "LIVE with Kelly and Ryan."

Sony owns "Wheel of Fortune" and there are reports about a field of unnamed candidates ... though it's unclear who is on the list aside from Ryan. Bloomberg was the first to report Seacrest was a possibility.

What's also interesting ... Ryan was a longtime pal of the late Merv Griffin, who created 'Wheel' -- so you gotta wonder if that factor is helping to propel Ryan's interest.

As we reported ... Pat announced this week he was going to step down as host in 2024 after 41 seasons running point on "Wheel of Fortune." Pat was hired as the host way back in 1981 by Merv.

Ryan, of course, has tons of experience hosting TV shows ... he was the original host of "American Idol" in its heyday and also hosted 'Live' with Kelly Ripa ... so he would make a lot of sense here.

Pat Sajak is taking a bow ... announcing he's retiring as host of "Wheel of Fortune" after the upcoming season.

The longtime game show host announced the big news Monday, saying he's decided he's going to hang it up after more than four decades on "Wheel of Fortune."

Pat, who turns 77 in October, says ... "Well, the time has come. I've decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last." Pat will officially retire in 2024.

He adds ... "It's been a wonderful ride, and I'll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all."

Pat started hosting "Wheel of Fortune" way back in 1981 -- when Ronald Reagan was still president -- at the suggestion of Merv Griffin. No word from Pat's partner in crime, Vanna White, yet ... she's been working with Sajak on the show since 1982.

A couple years ago, Sajak passed Bob Barker to become the longest-running host of any game show ... and now he's going to set the mark at 41 years.

No word on who might replace Pat as the next host ... but they've got big shoes to fill.

Pat Sajak was simply being funny when he showed off his wrestling skills on a contestant ... so says the guy who took it on the chin, and now he's urging folks to cut the "Wheel of Fortune" host some slack.

We spoke to Fred Jackson who tells us ... as a pro wrestler and a showbiz guy, he absolutely loved the moment, and it was actually one of the highlights of the whole show! He says he's the only one who has any business being upset about it, but he's perfectly OK with it.

ICYMI, the 'Wheel' host came under fire after Tuesday's episode, where Fred revealed he's a pro wrestler ... and after he won the bonus round, PS ran over and applied a wrestling move called the "chicken wing."

Fred found it super funny and all done in jest, adding he understands if it isn't everyone's sense of humor -- but he says all the backlash against Pat is taking it too far.

BTW, Fred says the moment was absolutely not staged -- Pat had a really firm grip on him, and he claims he couldn't get loose if he tried.

No injuries, though, so ... no blood, no foul. Standard 'Wheel' rules.

Pat Sajak posing for a photo with Marjorie Taylor Greene is getting double takes on the internet -- especially after old tweets of his have resurfaced that are raising eyebrows.

The "Wheel of Fortune" host stood shoulder to shoulder with the Georgia congresswoman and Right Side Broadcasting Network reporter Brian Glenn in a photo that popped up out of nowhere Saturday. There's no context on where or when it was shot, but people don't care.

The fact he's there with them at all -- especially Rep. Greene, smiling from ear to ear -- is enough for folks to be ripping him on Twitter ... which they absolutely are.

The reactions are brutal ... people are saying that Pat's showing his true colors here, and some are even vowing to boycott his iconic game show because of this. One person jokingly said Pat was pictured here with Vanna Whitesupremacist -- a reference to ... well, you get it.

Others are noting that Pat's actually expressed his conservative views in the past ... pointing to since-deleted tweets that are being attributed to him from years ago.

While a good amount of Twitter users seem genuinely shocked by this ... others say this is old news, as it's apparently been known where PS leans politically. Still, the fact he's yukking it up with these two, specifically, is a brand of conservativism that give many pause.

It's been noted that Pat seems to be on the verge of retirement, and if true ... maybe he's just letting it all hang out in public. What this might do to his legacy is anyone's guess.

The "Wheel of Fortune" contestant who missed what many consider the most obvious answer ever says the bright lights played a role in his historically unforgettable moment on the show.

Christopher Coleman -- one of the 3 'Wheel' contestants who failed to solve ..."ANOTHER FEATHER _N YO_R _A_" -- tells TMZ ... the pressure and scrutiny were just too much in his big moment.

It wasn't just the stress of trying to solve the puzzle in crunch time, though ... Christopher says it had been more than 30 years since he last heard the idiom, "another feather in your cap."

By now you have probably seen the clip of Christopher spinning the wheel and guessing "G" before getting another crack and guessing "D" -- neither of which were in the phrase.

As Christopher explains, he guessed "G" because he thought the last word was "bag," but meant to say "C" when he guessed "D" ... a mistake he chalked up to being up against the clock.

Naturally, folks on social media are having a field day at Christopher's expense ... but he's calling for some empathy and has a message for all the trolls out there.

Pat Sajak has come to the contestants' defense ... and Christopher echoed many of Pat's comments, saying folks at home don't know what it's like to be in the middle of a nerve-wracking game, and it's easy to poke fun from your couch.

Christopher is owning up to his mistakes though ... he says he should have just solved the puzzle when he finally figured out the answer, instead of taking a risk on another spin and going bankrupt.

Despite the viral fail, Christopher says going on 'Wheel' fulfilled a lifelong dream and he appeared on the show in memory of his grandmother, Lucy, who recently passed away.

On "Wheel of Fortune" you're either a winner or a loser -- but one contestant who many feel got screwed into taking an 'L' ... still managed to scoop up a brand new Audi.

That's right, on Monday Charlene Rubush finally got some justice when she took home a brand new Audi Q3 3, the SUV she would've won when she was on 'Wheel' ... if not for a technicality.

In case you missed it, Charlene lost during a final round last month after solving the phrase "CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD." The problem is she paused too long before saying "word" -- well, at least that's what Pat Sajak and the 'Wheel' judges deemed. Watch the clip ... easy to see why viewers were outraged.

Anyway, she missed out on taking home a $40,000 Audi Q3 -- but now the Audi dealer in Henderson, NV came through for her. Charlene tells TMZ ... “The car drives so well. I'm loving it!! Much needed since my husband and I have been sharing one car since we moved here 3 years ago!”

After Charlene's episode, Audi actually tweeted that she was still a winner in their eyes. They tracked her down to gift her with the car anyway. And, yes they covered the entire cost ... including taxes!!!

"Wheel of Fortune" fans can rest easy knowing all their outrage toward how one contestant's show ended has actually paid off ... in the form of a new Audi!

If you missed it, a woman named Charlene made it to the final round and caught a nice break when the standard "RSTLNE" and her guessed letters "GDHI" nearly filled out the entire puzzle.

The winning phrase was, "CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD." At first, Charlene guessed, "CHOOSING THE RIGHT CARD," but when that was wrong, she shouted out "CHOOSING THE RIGHT" before taking a 4-5 second pause and yelling out "WORD!"

The crowd thought she had won, but Pat Sajak delivered the tough news ... telling her she took too long to say the word "Word," and that the phrase needed to have been said all at once to be a winner. It was then revealed Charlene lost out on a $40,000 Audi Q3.

Lucky for Charlene, both "WoF" and the people at Audi took notice of her blunder ... and Charlene is getting an Audi after all!

Young Jock or Yung Joc? Well, it depends on who's asking -- some "Wheel of Fortune" fans are calling out the show out for misspelling the rapper's name during an episode ... but Joc says that's probably not the case.

Folks believe contestant Kennise Miller might have been cheated out of $39k during Monday night's bonus round when she failed to solve the puzzle under the "person" category.

Turns out the answer was "young jock", but some fans say otherwise.

Instead, they believe it was a misspelling of rapper Yung Joc's name. Well, we caught up with the "It's Goin' Down" rapper who didn't really think the answer was a mistake but was simply intended to be the description of a young athlete.

Joc tells us he is a longtime fan of 'Wheel' -- he says he grew up watching with his mom and grandma .... "So, I'm one of the best people to play "Wheel of Fortune," he says.

Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek are in the same fam -- 'Wheel' and 'Jeopardy' are produced by the same company -- but they have very different end-of-game outlooks.

We got Pat, along with the permanent and temp letter turners, Vanna White and Pat's daughter, Maggie, Thursday night in WeHo leaving Craig's, and we asked the longtime host who he'd want to replace him when he hangs it up.

Pat's answer ... way different from Alex's. Harvey interviewed Trebek a while ago for the show, "OBJECTified," and Alex had 2 favorite replacement hosts -- L.A. Kings announcer Alex Faust and CNN legal analyst Laura Coates.

Seems Pat isn't keeping up with the awesome 'Jeopardy' G.O.A.T. tourney ... but he has love for Alex.

Pat Sajak's fortunate to be alive after suffering a blocked intestine, but says for a brief drug-induced moment ... his life flashed before his eyes and he thought he was for sure dying.

The "Wheel of Fortune" host turned up on 'GMA' and spoke for the first time about last month's health scare, which he says was intense ... and could have killed him if he didn't go under the knife STAT.

Sajak says one moment he was out for his daily morning walk with his daughter and the next ... he's curled up in the fetal position with "excruciating" pain in his stomach. Within 2 and a half hours, he was having emergency surgery.

The craziest part -- Pat says none of the pain meds he was given were working until all of a sudden one worked REALLY well ... and instead of thinking about pain, he was thinking about his death.

He says it wasn't a morbid thing really, he just felt bad for his wife and daughter and thought about how much their lives would change after he was gone ... but turns out, he was just really high.

Pat clearly didn't lose his sense of humor in surgery.

As we reported ... longtime 'Wheel' hostess, Vanna White, took over Sajak's hosting duties while he was recovering, and he commended her on 'GMA' for being a team player and having fun with it, and doing a great job.

Poor Melanie ... poor, poor Melanie.

The answer was staring her in the face -- all she needed to do was guess the ONE letter missing from Thursday night's "Wheel of Fortune" puzzle and she would have won a bunch of money.

The category was "Same Name" -- and the key word here is "Shower."

What kind of shower has 4 letters and ends with "_OLD"?

Should be obvious ... unless you're into water sports.

Melanie did not go with "Cold Shower" -- she went with "Gold Shower" ... an answer that would be more appropriate if the category was, "Things The Russians Reportedly Have on Video."

Don't worry, Jenn was able to swoop in and clean up when Melanie struck out.

Pronunciation's fury has struck again in the game show world -- and it cost one guy dearly after he said "flamingo" instead of "flamenco" ... even when it was spelled out.

The contestant -- a dude named Jonny (no 'H') -- had a complete answer filled out on the board Monday night on "Wheel of Fortune" which read "Flamenco Dance Lessons." But instead of saying 'flamenco,' he went with the pink bird ... and producers cried fowl.

Jonny got buzzed for a wrong answer, and another fellow contestant, Ashley, picked up an easy W. Even sadder than the fail ... this poor dude's face realizing his mistake, which cost him $7,100.

This ain't the first time pronouncing an answer wrong has screwed someone on TV. You'll recall ... a man was dinged on "Jeopardy" not too long ago for calling Coolio's song "Gangsta's Paradise" ... "Gangster's Paradise" with a hard R.

The "Wheel of Fortune" wizard who nailed puzzles with just one letter and took home $76k is about to drop some of that dough on a sports car.

Robert Santoli came on "TMZ Live" to explain how he pulled off a near sweep of every puzzle on last Friday's episode of 'Wheel' -- and his strategy was downright genius. And a lot of hard work.

Robert -- whose day job is working IT at a college prep school -- tells us he's eyeballing a new Mustang ... either red or black. He says he fell in love with Ford's muscle car when he was in L.A. shooting 'Wheel.'

Don't worry, Mom ... the 23-year-old also says he's going to pay off his student loans from Fordham.

Pat Sajak has caused more than $100,000 of misfortune to his neighbor who is now suing him for gross sprinkler malfeasance ... this according to a new lawsuit.

Jacob Saleh claims in the suit -- obtained by TMZ -- Pat's sprinkler system was a disaster ... broken sprinkler heads, broken pipes, defective timers and other problems with the irrigation system.

Saleh says the "Wheel of Fortune" star did nothing to fix the problem on his $3 million estate ... and as a result there was massive flooding on Saleh's property ... causing the soil to significantly shift.

Saleh says his retaining walls were damaged, and there was large cracking and shifting of the pool. He's also worried his foundation might be damaged.

According to the lawsuit ... Saleh confronted Sajak ... to no avail. In fact, he says Sajak admitted he had broken pipes and defective sprinklers but did nothing to fix any of the problems.

According to the suit ... the repair costs are estimated at $125,000.

We called Pat's rep for comment ... so far no word back.

The guy who massively choked on solving a puzzle on "Wheel of Fortune" Wednesday night fully admits he blew it -- but tells TMZ he doesn't think his blunder is the worst of all time.

In case you missed it, check out the clip above to see just how far off Stephen Dryer was. It wasn't pretty.

TMZ spoke with Dryer ... who explained to us he rang in way too early and nervously forgot the category. Dryer says he knew his answer was off from the beginning ... but just felt he had gone too far to try and change it.

As bad as his mistake was ... Dryer thinks the guy who flubbed on Achilles back in April was WAY WORSE. He's right.

But Dryer is taking the ridicule he’s receiving in stride -- he did leave the show $7,200 richer, and says he plans to take a cruise to the Southern Caribbean for eight days in October.

The guy who correctly guessed the remaining letters in "Ne_ ____ _____" on "Wheel of Fortune" last night -- ON HIS FIRST TRY -- tells TMZ, the game was not rigged ... he really did pull the right answer out of his ass.

Emil De Leon -- who won $45,000 for the insane guess -- is a nursing student at the NCP College of Nursing in San Fran ... and while the show was being filmed in January, he was studying pediatrics.

Emil says he had babies on his mind during the show and got completely lucky -- once you watch the clip, you'll understand why this makes sense. Emil also says he's watched "Wheel of Fortune" forever and he's pretty much a pro at solving word puzzles.

Emil adds, Pat Sajak and Vanna White even pulled him aside afterward and told him he was one of the best players ever.

As for what Emil plans to do with his money -- he says he'll be putting most of it towards his nursing degree ... but plans to splurge a little on a trip to Cabo very soon.

See if you can guess Emil's answer before watching the clip.