Pat Sajak will depart from the Wheel of Fortune stage next year holding the Guiness World Records title of the longest career hosting a single game show. That’s a title he won’t soon relinquish – at least among his peers in the U.S.
Sajak, 76, began his Wheel of Fortune run more than four decades ago. Thirty-five years and 198 days into hosting the show where contestants guess letters to solve a word or phrase, he surpassed the previous record holder, The Price is Right’s Bob Barker.
“Well, the time has come,” Sajak said Monday. “I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last.”
Even if Sajak left tomorrow to become chairman at conservative Hillsdale College, his record will likely stand for decades, if not longer.
Current hosts of the same game show for more than a decade
Just a trio of hosts currently anchor the game shows they joined more than a decade ago.
Wayne Brady, who has hosted CBS’ Let’s Make a Deal for 14 years, would have the best chance, though slim, of catching Sajak. The 51-year-old comedian, actor and singer has about as many years on the job as Drew Carey and Steve Harvey but is about 15 years younger.
Sajak is just one of three game show hosts who remained with the same show for more than three decades: The others are Barker and Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who died at 80 in November 2020, just days after his last show.
From spinning wheels to confounding questions, here’s a look at others who have had the longest runs on some of America’s most popular game shows.
Game show hosts who anchored their shows for more than a decade
It should be noted that Groucho Marx’s game show You Bet Your Life was as a radio show for three years before branching out to television in 1950 and starting an 11-year run.