RYAN Seacrest will be forced to work in former host Pat Sajak’s shadow for “even longer” after Celebrity Wheel of Fortune was suddenly postponed this week.

Ryan, 49, took over as Wheel of Fortune host for Season 42 after Pat, 77, retired from the game show.

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Ryan Seacrest is the new host of Wheel of FortuneCredit: NBC

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Pat Sajak will be in Ryan Seacrest’s shadow for longer, as Celebrity Wheel of Fortune has been postponed to 2025Credit: Getty
Despite his retirement, Pat stayed on as host of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune for Season 5, which was slated to premiere in October 2024.

Earlier this month, it was announced the game show will be postponed to 2025 because of scheduling conflicts.

A source exclusively revealed to The U.S. Sun how the schedule change has Ryan in the iconic host’s shadow for even longer.

“You have to feel for Ryan Seacrest because he’s willing to work in Pat’s shadow for longer than he expected he would have to when he signed up to take over ‘Wheel,’” the source said.

“If Ryan negotiates a longer-term contract this year, which is expected since he’s only under a two-year deal at the moment, he’s going to have to stake a very strong claim on the primetime specials and celebrity editions.

“And why shouldn’t he? Ryan has endless experience as a primetime host, his ‘Wheel’ ratings so far are amazing, and he is more experienced than Pat when it comes to bantering with celebrities on camera.

“Ryan is respectful of Pat and his legacy, but everybody involved with the show expects him to take a lot more ownership of the franchise once Pat has truly left the building once and for all.”

As for the schedule change, the insider said the choice was an “ABC network decision and Sony TV.”

“The ‘Wheel’ producers and Pat are at the mercy of the network’s schedule.  Football is always going to come first. It’s the most profitable thing on television.

“Of course, Sony and Pat would prefer the episodes to air closer to when they were taped, but there is an upside here for Pat, who is suddenly a competitive force in the next game show host Emmy race after surprising everybody with his ’23-24 Emmy win earlier this fall.

Wheel of Fortune’s Ryan Seacrest slammed for huge mistake and having ‘no empathy’ in contestant’s ‘devastating’ $1m loss

“It probably helps Pat to put some distance between that win and the next – and final – time voters see him in the hosting job, but this wasn’t the initial plan, and it makes Pat’s eventual exit from the franchise look like a long goodbye.’

“That was never the intention.”

RYAN’S SUCCESS

Though Ryan has had a rocky start to his debut season, ratings don’t reflect his struggles.

The U.S. Sun previously reported 8,310,000 viewers watched Wheel of Fortune for the premiere week of September 9 to September 15.

As for rival game show Jeopardy!, which is hosted by Ken Jennings, 7,113,000 viewers tuned in for the episodes.

Wheel of Fortune taking over the top spot is a shock, as Jeopardy! brought in more viewers overall last season.

RYAN’S MISTAKES

Ryan had trouble adjusting to his role as host during the first few episodes.

On the premiere show, a contestant mispronounced the word “ripened” while solving a puzzle.

Ryan ignored the mishap and granted the player the win.

“I thought he said the wrong word, but when Ryan said he was correct, I assumed I had misheard,” one fan wrote on Instagram.

“Why would the producers allow him to win the puzzle when he was wrong? Not a good way to start the new season, especially with a new host,” another viewer added.

“I don’t like the fact that Terry mispronounced the winning trip puzzle, and he won it!!!! Pat would have said, ‘I’m sorry, Terry, that’s not the answer,'” another said.

“I agree – I agree, Ryan is fired after the first episode,” a viewer demanded.

On his second night as host, he failed to explain the rules to a contestant, resulting in her losing a million-dollar prize.

“Pat would’ve explained that if she took the risk, she would’ve lost the million-dollar wedge,” one X user wrote.

“Pat would always remind the contestants if they look under the $10,000 they could lose their $1 million wedge. Ryan needs to do this too…” wrote a second.

Then on the September 16 episode, contestant Vivian made it to the bonus round to solve the “What Are You Doing?” puzzle.

Vivan picked “C, H, M, and P” for consonants, while she picked the letter “I” for her vowel.

Vivian screamed out trying to solve the puzzle, “Wondering some help, answering some help, finding some help, looking around for some help, boundary for help.”

The buzzer then went off, as Vivian couldn’t solve the puzzle, which read “offering some help.”

Ryan showed the audience the prize, and they gasped when they saw $1 million.

Ryan smiled and laughed as he said, “You were so close to that million dollars. You almost had it.”

Vivan had trouble speaking and looked visibly upset as Ryan said, “Are you alright? Breathe! You’re still walking away with $27,300 and that trip to Europe.”

Fans weren’t happy with how Ryan handled the loss.

One viewer wrote, “Ryan doesn’t show the envelope correctly. He keeps showing it to the contestant when he should be showing it to the audience and viewers at home.

“Also, he didn’t handle the distraught contestant too well.”

A second agreed, “I hear ya. It’s more devastating maybe than he realizes.”

A third complained, “He’s gotta work on his empathy skills. Lol yikes!! Can he even remember what it’s like to not be rich?!”

Wheel of Fortune must-know staff

Wheel of Fortune’s universe is more vast than fans realize. Here’s a look at the key staffmembers of America’s most iconic puzzle-based game show:

Ryan Seacrest: host, 2024-present

Vanna White: co-host, 1982-present

Maggie Sajak: social media correspondent, 2021-present

Jim Thornton: announcer, 2011-present

Pat Sajak: host from 1981-2024, the newly-retired Pat still hosts Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and is now a supervising producer

Bellamie Blackstone: executive producer, 2021-present

Steve Schwartz, supervising producer of over 30 years and now co-executive producer

Jimmy McGuire: Stage Manager and Jeopardy! Clue Crew alum (also Jeopardy!’s stage manager)

Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! famously share a studio lot and use the others’ set next door for practice games before players take the stage.

Learn more about who keeps Wheel of Fortune spinning here.

‘ENTERTAINMENT PRO’

But fortunately for Ryan, fans believe he has finally gotten into his “groove” after over a month of hosting.

“Seacrest found his groove so quickly on this show that I have to say I’m super impressed even as someone who has never really cared for him,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

“I’m definitely shocked at how much I’ve enjoyed watching him. Gotta give it to him: he’s a TV entertainment pro.”

A second said, “He has definitely shown vast improvement so far. I feel like he still needs a bit of work on the sympathy quips where someone has to go home with the minimum or doesn’t win the bonus prize.”

A third commented, “Agree, the first month I couldn’t help but compare Ryan’s timing with Pat’s, ie. quips and banter with players, announcing a win, revealing something.

“Pat had a comic background and is naturally gifted with timing, snappy but also at ease when needed, and I suppose Ryan can get trained on that over time. But this week it felt like he was really in his groove.”

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Pat Sajak will host Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, which is set to air in 2025Credit: Getty

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Ryan Seacrest had a rocky start on Wheel of FortuneCredit: Instagram / ryanseacrest

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Fans have praised Ryan Seacrest for getting his ‘groove’ in recent weeksCredit: Wheel of Fortune