Wheel of Fortune fans claim Ryan Seacrest ‘found his groove’ after backlash

Wheel of Fortune viewers have been impressed with Ryan Seacrest’s hosting skills. The new host took over for Pat Sajak, who retired after 41 years and over 8,000 episodes recorded

Wheel of Fortune fans believe new host Ryan Seacrest has “found his grove.”

The former American Idol emcee took over the hosting position after Pat Sajak announced his retirement. Pat hosted the show for 41 years and recorded more than 8,000 episodes of the show. In 2018, Pat became the longest-running host of a game show, surpassing The Price Is Right’s Bob Barker.

Not many Wheel of Fortune fans wanted to believe their favorite host was no longer on air. Ryan made his Wheel of Fortune debut on Monday, September 9. At first, many did not enjoy seeing him on their screens, but as of recently, viewers at home noticed a change.

A user on Reddit made a thread writing that “the episodes this week have been so much better since Seacrest started.”

Ryan took over as host this year (Image: Sony)

They wrote: “I’ve only just noticed this week. I think this has to do with editing, the wheel spins are longer, the pace of the game doesn’t feel frantic. This is a great change, the show is so much more watchable now. What do you folks think?”

Many agreed with the poster. One person said: “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. I’m definitely shocked at how much I’ve enjoyed watching him.

Gotta give it to him: he’s a TV entertainment pro.” Another person added: “I’m a Ryan Seacrest hater til I die but I have to say he has found his stride and this pains me but I’m starting to like him…” A third fan commented: “Agreed, this has been the best week of the season to watch so far. Don’t forget though we haven’t seen Ryan’s actual first week of shows taped, that’s coming next month.”

According to Nielsen results per Deadline, Wheel of Fortune had an average of 8.31 million viewers during its premiere week in September and was the No. 1 show in syndication with a 4.88 HH rating. Ryan’s first episode drew 9.63 million total viewers, which was the highest-rated season premiere audience since 2015. Wheel of Fortune surpassed Jeopardy! that week.